


Coming Alive

by PixelFairy612



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex needs a hug, Cuddles, Cute, Cute Band Antics, Developing Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Fixing Past Mistakes, Fluff, Flynn Appreciation, M/M, Of Course They Have Anxiety, Possessed Nick, Post-Season/Series 01, Pre-Relationship, Protective Big Bro Alex, Protective Big Bro Reggie, Protective Luke, Redemtion, Reggie needs a hug, Second only to maybe Caleb, Slight Reggie and Flynn, Supernatural Elements, Trevor Wilson is the worst person ever, carrie redemption, chosen family, new powers, they're teenagers, touch starved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26732020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixelFairy612/pseuds/PixelFairy612
Summary: Julie and the boys try to learn how to navigate their new normal, after learning that the boys can be seen by any lifer whenever they were in contact with Julie. From there, things just get more and more complicated as the guys' powers only grow and spread. Meanwhile, Julie and Luke try to deal with their feelings for each other, along with their constant need to be in contact now that they finally can touch. And what is up with Nick? Why is he acting so strange?Focuses on the importance of relationships in life, "people change people."
Relationships: Alex & Carrie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie & Alex, Julie & Carlos, Julie & Carrie, Julie & Emily & Mitch, Julie & Flynn, Julie & Luke & Alex & Reggie, Julie & Ray, Julie & Reggie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke & Alex & Reggie, Luke & Emily & Mitch, Reggie & Ray
Comments: 131
Kudos: 622





	1. Their Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie finds out that when she is touching one of the ghosts, other lifers can see all of them. Chaos ensues as they try to navigate how to go about all this change.

“That was so weird,” Julie muttered, entering the kitchen. She tossed a handful of Dahlias onto the counter.

“What was weird?” Luke’s voice came from behind her. Julie jumped as she spun to face the boy, he let out a sheepish chuckle in response to her glare.

“What have I told you about sneaking up on me!” She leaned closer, leering at him.

“What was weird?” He repeated, trying to change the subject as he 'subtly' leaned away from her.

“Oh right. Nick came and dropped these off,” she gestured at the forgotten flowers on the bench. “He left almost straight after… but he was acting a little weird too…” Luke rolled his eyes in response.

“Oh puh-lease. It’s so obvious the dude has a crush on you.” Julie widened her eyes a little at the spite dripping in his tone, Luke’s own doing the same as he realised his slip-up. “I mean,” he coughed, trying to think, “he’s bound to act weird if he likes you right? Hehe…” Smooth, Luke.

Julie remained silent, making Luke even more nervous. Did she notice the slip? Who was he kidding, she definitely noticed, she was so smart. It was one of the things he liked so much- dammit Luke, she’s staring, did she say something? Is she waiting for a response? Say something, you idiot!

“Pardon?” He squeaked, his voice cracking, his face growing redder every second. Julie laughed at this, a light giggle, Luke couldn’t help but grin. She was so cute dammit.

“I said,” the amusement was clear in her tone. She smiled at him, “even though he likes me, doesn’t mean I like him back.” He grinned back at her hearing this. At least he knows Nick won’t be much competition. “Besides-” her eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before meeting his again-“I kind of like someone else.” After a beat of silence, her confidence began to waver. Luke’s jaw dropped expression made her more nervous by the second.

“And-” he paused, trying to calm his brain enough to form a coherent sentence, “who might that someone be?” He met her intense gaze with his own. She beamed shyly, glancing down again.

Julie reached for his hand laying on the kitchen bench, aiming to place hers on top before pausing. Would her hand go straight through his again? Would they never be able to touch again? What if earlier was some weird one-off. She froze. She was too afraid to try. She didn't want to find that she couldn't touch him anymore.

Luke watched her hand wide-eyed. He met her eyes again, realising her internal dilemma. ‘God I hope this works.’ He gulped before raising his own hand and touching hers, still frozen mid-air. They locked eyes again upon the realisation that they could still touch one another. Timidly, she entwined their fingers together, her eyes not leaving his.

Luke took a slow step closer to her, never allowing their hands to part. His eyes flickered between her own as he leaned in slightly. He prayed he wasn’t misreading the situation. His heart jumped into his throat when he felt her take hold of his other hand, as she leaned in further. She laid her forehead on his, closing her eyes. Luke felt compelled to do the same. Absently, he hoped she couldn’t hear his heartbeat pounding against his ribcage.

Luke leaned in the slightest bit more, hoping to finally be able to kiss the girl of his dreams when-

“Julie! There you are, girl! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Flynn burst through the kitchen door.

Luke and Julie sprung apart at the intrusion, putting eight feet between them in half a second.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Flynn cried, mouth gaping wide open as she pointed between the two.

“W-What was what?” Julie gulped, torn between meeting Luke’s eye and avoiding it. Deciding on the latter, she met her best friend’s gaze instead. Big mistake.

“I saw Luke!” Flynn cried, her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Shh shh, Flynn you have got to be quieter, my dad or someone will hear yo- wait, what?” Julie yelped, at the same time as Luke cried out-

"Did she say she could hear me?" Their eyes locked, both wide with confusion as they tried to process what Flynn had said.

“I walked in, and he was there. And then poof he was gone. What the heck was that?” At this point Julie wasn’t sure if Flynn was even breathing, but how could she focus on that? Flynn had seen Luke! With no music!

“Wait so can you see me now?” Luke spoke up, stepping toward Flynn (and by extension Julie) and waving a hand in front of her face. A moment passed with no response.

“Guess that means she can’t,” Julie muttered, scratching her head in confusion.

“Huh? Can’t what?” Flynn asked, tilting her head to the side. “Oh, you were talking to him. Duh, I knew that.”

“So wait, what were we doing then but not now?” Julie stepped toward Luke this time, meeting and holding his stare.

“I-” Luke paused, gulping at her scrutiny, “I don’t know. Uh, we were holding hands?” His statement came out as a question as he shrugged his shoulders, his voice cracking.

“Oh yeah! That’s it!” Julie leapt forward and grabbed his hand again. Luke’s eyes bugged and his heart skipped a beat (or four).

“There he is again!” Flynn cried as she came toward the two. “And wait, since when have you two been able to touch?”

“Uh,” Julie and Luke exchanged unsure glances, “it’s a long story, I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s focus on the fact that you can see him whenever we touch! Can other people see him now too? Will it work with Reggie and Alex as well? Why is this happening? Why now? This is all so confusing!” Now Julie was the one not breathing.

“Hey,” Luke placed his hands on Julie’s shoulders, “calm down, we’ll sort this out. For now, breathe.” He breathed in, urging Julie to match his breaths. He waited three seconds from her breath in, then exhaled, her doing the same. Her breath flicked up the hair on his forehead, making both of them chuckle. The earlier tension in the room had melted completely.

“This is so cool!” Flynn stepped toward the two, trying to put her hand on Luke’s shoulder too, only for it to go straight through him.

“Wait, so you still can’t touch me?” Luke asked, lifting his hands from Julie’s shoulders and stepping through Flynn. “Wow, that’s so weird. Guess you’re special then, Jules.” He winked at her.

“Okay this is all too weird,” Julie muttered shaking her head. She ignored the new (and completely adorable) nickname. She thanked whoever was watching over her that Flynn hadn't heard it. "We should go find Reggie and Alex. Try to test some stuff and figure out exactly what the new normal is.”

~Julie and the Phantoms~

“This is so weird,” Alex muttered as he watched Flynn’s hand go through Luke’s shoulder while Julie’s didn’t. “And you’re saying you can actually see him right now?” He asked, still fixated on the two girls’ hands. “Oh wait, duh. She can’t hear me.”

“Yes, I can!” Flynn exclaimed as she turned to face where she had heard his voice coming from. “And I can see you too!” She gaped, looking straight at him.

“Wait, what?” Julie asked, dropping her hand from Luke’s shoulder as she turned to face her friend.

“Well, I can’t anymore-" she waved her hands around-"but I could before, even though Julie was only touching Luke.”

Luke stood next to Julie again, slipping his hand in hers. When Julie turned her questioning gaze on him, Luke fought a blush as he shrugged and said, “So she can see us?” He phrased the statement as a question, as he were unsure if that was a fair motivation. She grinned softly at him, melting his heart a little, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“We should do some tests or something. We need to know exactly what’s happening,” Alex began pacing around the room.

“Awwe man! I hate tests!” Reggie whined, throwing his head into his hands.

“He does have a point though. And you either need to not touch in public, or we need a cover story. People are going to wonder why you've come from Sweden,” Flynn pointed out. “Especially if Romeo here is gonna be stuck to Julie's hip twenty-four-seven.” She sent a smirk at Luke and Julie, causing the two to turn bright red. Luke yanked his hand away in embarrassment.

Julie rolled her eyes, grabbing Luke’s hand again. She ignored the raised eyebrows and smirks sent her way. Instead, she chose to focus on Luke’s wide-eyed blinking as he gaped at her. “So she can see you.” She parroted his earlier excuse in a confident tone. Luke couldn’t contain his wide grin as he nodded, satisfied with her answer, again ignoring his red cheeks.

“Julie? You in there?” They turned to face the doors as they began to open to reveal Ray. Julie’s eyes widened, she rushed to drop Luke’s hand. “Huh? What was that flash?” Ray asked, looking around the room.

“What flash? I didn’t see a flash. There was no flash.” Julie rushed to distract her dad, eyes darting around the room. Her brain short-circuited as she tried to come up with something to say.

“Sorry about that, Mr Molina,” Flynn jumped to her friend’s rescue, seeing how she had been drowning. “We were messing around with the holograms a little.” With her cool smile and confidence, Julie would have believed her, had she not been in the loop. Ray bought it and shrugged.

“Just wanted to tell you that dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I’ll call out when it is. Now I’ll let you get back to messing with the holo things.” He shut the studio door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Luke grabbed Julie’s hand again, sending her a more confident smile. She smiled back before turning to face the group again.

“Okay, so what tests do we do?” She asked Alex, as it was clear this was much more his forte than anyone else’s.

“Well, your dad mentioned a flash," Alex continued pacing, "meaning he could see us. That clears up my first question.”

“So, what else is there to figure out?” Reggie asked, reclining on the couch.

“Hmm I don’t know, maybe WHY CAN PEOPLE SEE US NOW?” Alex yelled, pulling at his hair.

“Woah, dude, chill," Luke held his hands up, "we’ll figure it all out, no need to freak.” Alex glared at his nonchalant attitude. Right as he opened his mouth to speak-

“Julie, Flynn! Dinner!”

“Coming!” Julie called to her dad. “Bye guys, we’ll be back later," she spoke in a lower voice. Her eyes lingered on Luke as she gave his hand a light squeeze before dropping it and leaving with Flynn.

Once the door shut, Luke melted onto the couch with a sigh. A goofy grin formed on his face as he stared at his hand, still able to feel Julie’s touch. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up, seeing his band-mates smirking at him.

“Shut up,” he muttered before poofing out.

The girls returned an hour later. They found Alex still stressing while Reggie chilled and played air guitar. But Luke was absent.

“Where’s Luke?” Was the first thing Julie said upon entry, causing the two boys to glance up at them.

“Dunno,” Alex muttered, “he poofed out almost straight after you left.” Julie ignored that in favour of focussing on how freaked out Alex still sounded.

“Oh well. Let’s try to answer some of those questions.” She sent him a reassuring smile, sitting next to him on the couch. The blonde smiled back, releasing a relieved sigh before thanking her. Knowing he had Julie backing him up was enough.

“Hey!” Reggie yelped, jumping up, as Flynn passed right through him and sat on his chair. Julie and Alex laughed, the tension was now gone completely from his shoulders.

“What’s so funny?” Flynn asked, looking between the two.

“Umm, you kinda sat on Reggie,” Julie struggled to contain her giggles as she spoke.

“Oh! Sorry!” Flynn apologised, whipping her head in all directions, looking for the boy. “I can’t see you,” she chucked.

“Oh, right.” Julie widened her eyes. Luke wasn’t here. She reached for Alex's hand first, before pausing. She settled for placing it on his shoulder instead.

“Much better," Flynn nodded, content. “Sorry Reggie," she said sheepishly, “did you want me to move?” She pointed at the chair she was on.

“No, no! Don’t worry about it!” Reggie waved his hands around, trying to reassure her, before plopping down next to Julie.

“I would say we ask Willy about all these questions but-” Alex trailed off, looking down. Julie squeezed his shoulder and smiled regretfully. He tried to smile back but it came off as more of a grimace. Julie leaned in and hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder, trying to console him. She knew how much he was hurting over Willy.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll figure that out too,” she whispered as he hugged her back. “How about tonight we play something. We can figure all this complicated stuff out tomorrow." Alex loved this girl, he decided.

Luke chose the perfect moment to make his appearance. Although confused at the quiet in the room, he went along with it happily when Julie said it was time to rehearse.

"That was great!" Luke declared as they finished the final song for their next set. He went and sat next to Julie at the piano, taking her hand once more.

“We should head to bed, Ju. It’s getting late, almost twelve,” Flynn said after a few minutes of chatting. She reached for Julie’s arm, only to go straight through it.

“Ahhh!” Flynn and Julie screamed. Flynn made another attempt, trying to grab Julie’s shoulder only to pass through it again.

Julie couldn’t move, frozen in shock and fear. What happened? Why couldn’t she and Flynn touch? Was she becoming a ghost too? Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to move- tried to do something, say something, but couldn’t. She sat, completely paralysed. The tears leaked from her eyes before flowing down her face.

“No, no, no! Please don’t cry, Julie.” Luke panicked, dropping her hand to grab her shoulders instead. “You’re okay, you’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out.” He tried to reassure her. Julie met his eyes slowly before leaping into his arms, hugging him as she cried into his chest. She was so confused. Luke hugged her back, gentle but firm, looking at Flynn and the guys in panic. Alex was right, he couldn’t deal with it when people cried. Especially Julie.


	2. Mr. Confident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why can't Julie and Flynn touch? How can life be so cruel and unfair? They have to figure this all out. They have to. Meanwhile, Nick saunters up to Julie and makes her suuuuper uncomfortable. Why was he acting so different??

‘Guys, help,’ Luke mouthed at his bandmates, eyes wide with panic. He had no idea what to do, no idea how to console her, no idea how to get her to stop crying.

Flynn reached a hand out to ease her friend, only to flinch back. She clenched her eyes shut. She couldn’t bear the sight of her hand going through her friend’s shoulder again. She wrapped her arms around herself, her closed eyes welling up with tears.

The guys were in full panic mode now. The only thing scarier than one girl crying, was two girls crying. And they had no idea how to deal with it. Luke’s eyes never left Julie as he pulled her closer, attempting to comfort her, even if only a little.

“Okay, we can sort this out,” Alex declared, firmer than before. He wouldn’t let his friends hurt like this. “Julie, come here,” he gently pulled her from Luke’s arms. Julie blinked at him, her face red and blotchy, tears still falling. His smile was so reassuring that Julie believed him. “Besides, there’s no way you can be a ghost, you’re not dead. It must be something else.” Yeah. Yeah, he was right. She didn’t die. She can’t be a ghost. She’s not a ghost. She’s not.

Julie took a deep breath, gulping, she turned to meet Flynn’s teary gaze. Pensive, she reached out a hand, the other girl doing the same. To both of their dismays, their hands passed once more.

“I just don’t understand,” Alex muttered, removing his hand from Julie’s shoulder to pace around the room again.

“Me neither,” Julie whispered, looking at her hands. She took a step forward, Flynn meeting her halfway. They locked eyes as they reached their hands out. They jumped when, instead of passing through one another, they met.

“It worked!” The two leapt forward, hugging one another. The guys watched in confused awe, unable to keep up with the emotional whiplash of the past three minutes.

“Why can we touch now, but not before?” Julie asked, looking back at the boys, yet refusing to let go of her friend.

“I-I don’t know,” Alex looked stumped, yanking at his hair in frustration.

“You’re gonna pull all your hair out if you keep doing that,” Reggie muttered.

“Wait- do you think it’s got something to do with you touching the boys?” Flynn asked suddenly, letting go of Julie (reluctantly). At their confused looks, she elaborated. “I mean, I tried to grab your hand when you were holding Luke’s hand,” she gestured at the two. “And then again when Alex was touching your shoulder, but it didn't work. But we can touch now,” she stepped forward and grabbed Julie’s hand again. Half to convince them, half to prove it to herself.

“Hmm she has a point,” Alex muttered, loosening his grip on his hair. “Julie, grab Luke’s hand again and try touching Flynn.” Julie did as told, dropping Flynn’s hand and walking back to Luke. She grabbed his hand again with a small smile, which he returned. Julie pulled Luke to where Flynn was still standing, reaching out to the other girl. Just as they suspected, her hand passed through Flynn’s.

“This is so freaky…” Julie muttered, waving her hand through the middle of her friend’s body. She told herself over and over; ‘it’s only temporary, you can still touch, it’s fine, everything is okay.’

“Well, at least we figured one thing out?” Reggie asked in a confused manner.

“Yeah…” Flynn trailed off, still staring at her best friend’s hand as it moved through her midsection. “But we should still get to bed.” She shook her head, reaching a hand towards Julie, only to pause. She sent a pointed look at Luke. A beat passed and he didn’t move. Her look turned to a glare.

“Oh!” His eyes widened, “right, sorry. My bad,” He chuckled sheepishly, letting go of Julie’s hand. Flynn then grabbed the other girl and pulled her out of the studio. Julie waved to the guys as she left.

The next day at school, Julie’s mind was racing, and she was barely able to concentrate on her classes. And when she hugged Flynn every time they passed in the hall. And when the two were more attached at the hip than normal, neither commented on it.

When the time finally came for their dance class, Julie had to admit she was dreading it a little. It was the first time interacting with Nick since he’d been acting weird at her house. She wanted to believe that Luke was right, that Nick was only being weird because she rejected him. An involuntary sigh escaped her lips at the thought of a certain guitarist. She ignored the knowing look her friend sent her.

“Yeah yeah, girl. You can fantasise about your little crush later. We’re gonna be late,” Flynn rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing exactly who the girl had been thinking about. She grabbed her hand (she could still do that, she reminded herself again) to head to class.

“Hey, Julie!” Nick waved as the two stepped into the room. Julie looked up at him, blinking, not expecting such a happy greeting. He walked up to the two of them, linking his arm with hers. He gave Flynn a light nod before pulling his partner away. He took her to a back corner of the gymnasium, as the teacher told them to take their places.

“Umm, don’t we usually dance near the centre?” Julie asked, a little unnerved by the prolonged contact. She pulled her arm out of his in a subtle manner. She glanced around, not loving how distanced she was from her friend.

“Well yeah,” Nick stuttered a bit, regaining his composure soon after, giving the girl an easy smile. “Maybe I wanted to spend a little time with you one on one?” He gave her a winning smile, raising one eyebrow.

“Nick, look,” she sighed, trying to figure out how to word it. “If this is about you still trying to get me to go out with you, I’m sorry. I already told you I like someone else…” She trailed off. Thinking about Luke always made her lose her train of thought. She looked back at Nick, seeing a calculating smile switch to something more friendly. She blinked, assuming she imagined it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he rolled his eyes in a very non-Nick fashion, “but I’m not giving up on you that easy, Molina.” The smirk was back, and Julie frowned. He still wasn’t acting like himself.

“Okay class, let’s run it through with the music.” She snapped her head up at the teacher. Right, she had forgotten that now she had to dance with him. She returned his confident smile with a tight-lipped one of her own.

They began their dance, but something was different about that too. Not to be mean, but Nick hadn’t been very… good before. But not now. Now he seemed so confident, his movements so natural, not missing a single beat or cue. It was like he was born to perform, out of nowhere.

“That was great, Julie!” Nick exclaimed, turning to her once they finished their final run through. Then he did something completely unexpected, pulling her in for a tight hug. Julie didn’t have the time to fight it, but luckily (for her or for him, she wasn’t quite sure), he ended the embrace. “For next time though, you might want to practice counts twelve through twenty a little more. You were a few beats behind, and I noticed your foot slip a few times,” he commented, sending her a blinding grin. Julie’s jaw dropped halfway to the ground.

Now this, this was definitely new. Nick had always complimented her on how well she danced, saying how he could never keep up with her. Never before would he have even noticed her sloppy performance, let alone comment on it.

“Hey, hey, sorry. Didn’t mean to offend you,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Now that was more like him. “I thought I should tell you is all. I mean we need to be in perfect harmony for this, right?” He grinned again.

Julie’s jaw dropped again. Did he say what she thought he said? There was no way he could know… right? He couldn't know. It must have been a coincidence. And if his grin seemed a little too knowing, it was only a trick of the light.

“Anyway, I gotta head off. See you later, Molina,” with a final grin he sauntered away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would people feel about me posting little ideas on small bits and pieces I would like to add to this story, at the end of chapters. I have over 10 ideas written in caps at the bottom of my document, some of them won't be put into the story for quite some time, but I feel like I need to get them out of my head, ya know? Would be happy if people would maybe comment on some of them, giving feedback on whether they like the idea or discuss with me how they would like to see it come to fruition. Let me know in reviews if this would be something you'd be interested in.


	3. Flying Solo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Flynn have a huge disagreement, only Julie doesn't even know what it was about. How can she fix things with her best friend, when said best friend won't even talk to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason I’ve put so much emphasis on Julie and Flynn’s strong friendship is that I genuinely hate the trope of ‘ooh she has new friends now, she and her best friend are going to fall apart and stop spending as much time together’ and I want to make it very clear from the beginning, that while Luke and Julie’s romantic relationship, and Alex and Reggie’s platonic relationships with Julie, begin to blossom, she WILL NOT lose her close relationship with her bestie. Physically they may be forced to be apart sometimes, but they are sisters before anything else, Flying Solo.

“Yeah, it was so weird, he was acting so… different,” Julie told Flynn as the two walked into the studio after school.

“Who was different?” Alex asked, popping in and making Julie jump.

“Gah! Still not used to that,” she sighed, shaking her head. You’d think that after the three months, their popping in wouldn't surprise her anymore. But nope.

“Hi, whoever’s here!” Flynn smiled, waving frantically around the room in greeting. Julie and Alex laughed, watching her funny movements. Deciding to take some pity on her, Alex rested his arm on Julie's head, making him visible. “Oh, hi Alex,” Flynn waved again, smiling at him.

“What am I, an armrest?” Julie pouted, crossing her arms, raising her eyebrow at him.

“Yepp,” he popped the ‘p’ with his comment, grinning smugly at her, knowing she wouldn't shrug him off. No matter how much she might want to. “Who was different?” He repeated, wanting to know.

Julie sighed at this, seeming unhappy at the reminder of who they had been talking about. She grabbed Alex’s arm and moved to the couch, sitting down and yanking him down with her. She glanced at her friend, giving her a pleading look, hoping she would explain the story. She didn’t even want to think about Nick anymore, let alone talk about him. Her friend rolled her eyes but nodded none the less.

“You remember Nick, right?” Flynn asked, sitting on the chair across from the two. When Alex nodded, she continued, “well he was acting super weird in dance class. Getting super touchy in an unwelcome way. Making Julie super uncomfortable,” she narrowed her eyes. Alex frowned a little at this, he opened his mouth to ask more-

“Hey, guys!” Reggie popped in, causing the girls to jump. Flynn doing so with a slight yelp, being completely unused to the ghosts’ popping in. “Sorry,” he chuckled at the girl’s reactions. “Hi Flynn!” He waved at her, making the girl smile as she waved back. “What are we talking about?” He asked, plopping down next to Julie.

Alex and Julie glanced at each other, deciding if they should tell him. They both knew first hand exactly how protective Reggie got over his friends. And now that there was a way for other lifers could see him? Who knows how he would react, what he might say to Nick. Flynn, on the other hand, was unaware of this, and missed the look shared between Julie and Alex. So she told Reggie everything.

Flynn explained what had happened during dance class. Everything from the linking of arms to dragging Julie into a corner to be alone, to insulting her dancing and hugging her without permission. Reggie was almost growling by the end of it, his hands clenched tight, his knuckles were white. Even Alex had to admit his blood was boiling after having it all laid out like that. Plus the fact that this had all occurred within a single hour.

“Now, guys,” Julie paused, eyes not leaving Reggie as he shifted, “you’re not going to go and do something stupid are you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair.

“No promises,” Reggie growled out, glaring at the ground in front of him. He was fighting the urge to jump up and find this Nick kid right that second. How dare he put Julie in such an uncomfortable situation. Doesn’t he understand his advances weren't welcome?

“Okay, look,” Julie said firmly, standing up to face the two boys. “I know you want to protect me, but I can handle myself.” Reggie made to speak up, but she sent him a sharp glare, daring him to challenge what she had said. “Now I want you to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid here.” She glared, pausing again, waiting for them to try to dispute her.

“Question,” Alex raised his hand, “does something stupid include telling Luke?” He asked, knowing full well what the answer to that question was.

“Of course that’s stupid!” Julie burst out in frustration, making both boys chuckle at her outburst. She then realised that was his attempt to lighten the mood. She laughed, shaking her head at the boy. She sat back between them on the couch, holding her arms out to them. “Thank you both for caring so much though,” she smiled. The boys grinned back, hugging her tight. Flynn smiled weakly at the scene, more than a little upset she couldn’t get in on the hug, not that she would admit that.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Alex said, pulling back from the hug, keeping his arm slung around Julie’s shoulders. Reggie rested his head on Alex’s arm with his hands around Julie’s waist. “I say we go find Luke and play a little.”

“Oh yeah, where is Luke anyway?” Julie asked the two, having expected the final member of their band to have come back from wherever, by now.

“Right here!” Luke popped in at that moment. He took one look at the couch and pouted at what he saw. “Awwe no fair! You guys are hugging without me!” He whined. Julie, laughing at his inner child as she reached her hand out and yanked him into the hug.

“You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for,” Julie whispered happily.

Flynn widened her eyes a little at that comment. It… It stung. More than that. It hurt. Being so left out, even though she knew it wasn’t intentional. She stared at the group hug with envy, never wishing she could touch the ghosts more than she did at that moment. Looking at them was a further painful reminded that she wasn’t apart of their group.

“Hey… guys,” they all looked up at her as she spoke. The look in their eyes proved to her that they had forgetten she was there… Even Julie. Unable to bear their piercing gazes she turned her back away from them, “I’m gonna head out… I’ve got a lot of… homework to do.” With her excuse given, she made her hasty exit before Julie could speak up.

“Flynn, wait!” Julie called, reaching her hand out as the studio doors slammed shut behind the girl. By the time Julie freed herself from the pile and opened the doors, her friend was long-gone.

“What happened then?” Reggie asked, poofing beside Julie.

“I-… I’m not sure,” she mumbled, staring in the direction her friend had run. On one hand, she wanted to go and find her. On the other, her friend seemed pretty intent on Julie not following her. And Julie knew first hand exactly how evasive Flynn could be when she didn’t want to talk. The girl was the queen of hide-and-seek for a reason after all. Even if she tried, odds are she wouldn’t be able to find her.

By the time their third class came and went at school the next day, Julie had still yet to see Flynn a single time. The girl was damn good at avoiding her when she wanted to. It was time for lunch now, and with Flynn MIA that meant Julie didn’t have anyone to talk to or sit with. She pushed her food around with her fork, unable to stop her mind from running.

“Hey,” a voice came from behind her. She whirled around, expecting to see her friend only to find Nick grinning at her. “Mind if I sit?” He asked, not waiting for an answer as he took a place on the bench next to her, a little closer than she would have liked. If he noticed Julie slide away from him, he didn’t comment on it. “You look all down in the dumps, wanted to check on you.” At this, she smiled. This was more like the old Nick. The one she had spent the past three years crushing on.

“Hi, Nick. Yeah I’m not feeling the best today is all,” she smiled a dim smile at him, not sure exactly how much she wanted to open up to him. Sure he was being sweet now, but that didn’t change how uncomfortable he’d made her yesterday.

“Are you sure that’s it?” He asked, giving her a knowing look. Julie raised her eyebrows at him at this, urging him to continue his thought. “It’s just-” he trailed off, breaking eye contact -“I saw Flynn earlier and she looked about as mopey as you do. It’s rare I see you two apart.” He explained. Julie’s eyes widened. He was a lot more perceptive than she remembered. Might have been another part of him liking her, him paying more attention to her life. But for some reason, she didn’t think that was all there was too it.

As she opened her mouth to respond, she caught a glimpse of Flynn entering the cafeteria. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before Flynn turned and left the room in a rush. Julie sprung up.

“Sorry, Nick. I gotta go!” She declared, grabbing her bag and scrambling off in the direction Flynn had gone.

“What about your food!” She ignored Nick’s call from behind her. Dodging students left and right, she made her way out of the crowded cafeteria. She barely saw Flynn slip into the girls’ bathroom, clearly hoping to lose her.

“Flynn, wait! Please talk to me!” She called as she pushed open the door to the bathroom, only to come face to face with Carrie Wilson. Julie looked down, expecting a snide comment from the girl. She could hear it now. ‘Awwe, trouble in paradise, Molina?’ Only it never came. After a few beats passed she looked up, meeting her old friend in the eyes.

She couldn’t describe the look in Carrie’s eyes, but it was a look she hadn’t seen in a long time, a few years in fact. Without saying anything, Carrie stepped around Julie and left the bathroom. Even that was unusual. Any other day, Carrie would have pushed her aside, not stepped around her. She shook her head, not having time to focus on Carrie acting weird.

“Hey,” she whispered, seeing Flynn standing there. On a normal day, the two would comment on Carrie’s strange behaviour. They would make jokes about how the ice-queen had melted. But today, they stood in silence. Julie stepped closer to her, trying to look her friend in the eyes, to no avail. Flynn wouldn’t even look at her.

“Flynn, you have to talk to me. You can’t run off and ignore me with no explanation,” Julie couldn’t control her glare. Her friend was being completely unfair. “You had us all worried sick when you raced out like that,” Julie continued after a few seconds. Her friend remaining silent. A few more beats passed. “Say something!” Julie burst out, unable to help herself, regretting it as soon as her friend spoke.

“What am I supposed to say?" Flynn asked coldly, glaring at the floor. "That I thought now that I was finally able to see the guys, I would be able to become a real member of the group?” She asked, meeting Julie’s eyes for the first time.

“Flynn, you are a real member of the group!” Julie tried to assure her, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“No!” Flynn burst out, shaking Julie’s hand away and meeting her gaze again. “No, I’m not. Not really,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “You guys are all so close. You have group hugs, and inside jokes, and the guys do funny things that I can’t even see. And you always laugh it off and tell me not to worry about it. That’s not me being apart of the group,” Flynn took a step back. “And even now that I can see them, I can’t touch them, or you, I can’t join in on the group hugs. I’m not a member of the band. Hell, you haven’t even told me how it is you’re able to touch them, yet!”

Julie gaped at her friend, trying but failing to disagree. Everything she had said had been true. And now that Julie thought about it, her and the guys were all hugging when Flynn reacted and ran off.

“Flynn, I-I’m so, so sorry,” Julie took a step forward, reaching a hand out to touch her friend. She paused, tears welling in her eyes when she flinched away from her. “I never meant to make you feel that way, you have to know that,” she pleaded for her friend to understand.

“I do know that,” Flynn looked up at her again. Relief flooded through Julie, but it didn’t last. “I do know that you never meant to make me feel this way. But that doesn’t change the fact that I do.” The first tear slipped down Flynn’s face. On that bitter note, before she broke down completely, Flynn exited the bathroom.

Julie didn’t try and follow. She knew her friend was right. And this wouldn't fix itself with following her and forcing her to keep talking. She needed the guys, now. Sorry dad, but she would have to miss the last two classes of the day. Her friendship with Flynn was more important.

Julie rang her dad, asking that he come and pick her up. She told him that she and Flynn had a fight, and she wasn’t feeling up to completing the school day. She had learnt her lesson about lying to him. He completely understood and came to pick her immediately, hugging her as soon as she got into the car.

When they arrived home, Julie assured her dad she was fine, and needed a break was all. She told him she was going to sit in the studio alone for a bit. He let her go, albeit reluctant to do so, but not before making her promise to come to talk to him if it got too much.

Julie opened the door to the studio, walking in to find the guys all lounging around the room. This surprised her. She’d expected them to be off doing things, as they normally were while she was at school. Alex was reading a book while laying on the couch, Reggie throwing a ball at a wall. Meanwhile Luke looked like he was napping (do ghosts even nap? She’d have to ask them that later).

“Julie, you’re back!” Alex sat up in surprise, looking at the girl in confusion. This snapped the other two out of it. Luke jolted up from the couch, and Reggie turning to look at her. Only to have his ball bounce back and smack him on the side of the head, making him grumble.

“Why are you back so early? School doesn’t finish for a few hours,” Luke asked, tilting his head at the girl.

“I-…” The girl trailed off, “I finally spoke to Flynn,” she gulped, looking down. The guys glanced at each other in confusion. “She said a lot of things, I didn’t say much. And basically, I’ve been a horrible friend,” she hiccuped. Unable to hold back the tears anymore as the fear of losing her first real friend set in.

The guys sprung up and raced toward her, wrapping her in a tight group hug as she cried. None of them fully understood what had happened, but they could tell she was hurting and needed a hug.


	4. Flying Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Flynn finally makeup, and sort everything out. And oop the band has another new power, wow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I finish writing chapter 5 in full before I even started chapter 4 because I couldn't figure out how to pick it up after an awkward chapter 3 ending? Yes, yes I did. I mean it was 2700 words, which is the length of both of the first chapters combined. Does that mean Chapter 5 will be up in a few minutes? Yes, yes it does. :)
> 
> I included a reprise of the song Flying Solo that I wrote myself, in the form of a duet, hope you guys like it xx. Read my endnote for my small rant on why I love reprises ;)

Julie stirred from her place on the couch. She didn’t particularly remember falling asleep, but it also didn’t surprise her. Blinking, she took in the darkroom around her. The sun was set, so she must have been out for a couple of hours. She yawned and stretched, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she jolted at the voice, whirling around to find Reggie standing behind her. He walked around the couch and plopped down next to her.

“How long was I out?” She asked, yawning again as she spoke. “And where did Alex and Luke go?”

“You were asleep a couple of hours, must have been super exhausted,” he raised his eyebrow at her. “And the guys went to talk to Flynn, but we didn’t think you should be alone,” he muttered, Julie’s eyes widening. “Luke wanted to stay with you, but he wanted to talk to Flynn himself. He was pretty pissed about her making you cry,” Reggie smirked at her, making her face redden. Her eyes dropping to her lap, thinking about Flynn again. “Don’t worry,” Reggie placed his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner, “we’ll sort this out, I promise.”

Julie leapt forward and hugged him. She was still riding a little emotional from the whole exchange earlier. The two stayed like that for a few minutes, before another yawn from Julie interrupted them. Reggie laughed at this, standing up and pulling her with him.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” he smiled at her, pulling her towards to door and exiting the studio.

“But,” Julie trailed off, looking down, not putting up much of a fight. He opened the front door and pulled her into the house. “Shouldn’t I go find Flynn?”

“No way,” he whirled around on her. “The guys have got this, you and Flynn are going to be fine. You’ve been through worse than this, right?” He grinned, reassuring her a little. “Besides, you need your rest, I get you’re worried, but your health comes first.” Julie leant in and hugged him again, tearing up a little. She had so many amazing friends that cared so much about her. It was so awesome.

Once they parted, Julie went upstairs and went to sleep again. Her mind running with thoughts about her and Flynn, but surprisingly she wasn’t worried. Reggie was right, the guys had this. They had been through worse. They would be fine. Flying Solo played in the back of her mind as she fell asleep.

The next day at school, Julie was panicking a little bit. It was nearing lunch and she was dreading it. She had still yet to see Flynn. What if the guys hadn’t been able to convince her to talk? What if she still hated her? What if she never saw her again. As she began to spiral, she got a new notification on her phone. She opened it absently, before smiling wide when she was it was from Flynn.

‘Meet me in the music room at lunch.’

Suddenly, lunch couldn’t come soon enough. Julie was vibrating in her seat as she fidgeted, staring at the clock. The minute hand ticked over, and Julie sprung out of her seat, a second before the bell even had a chance to ring. Her bag packed in ten seconds, she was halfway out the door. Only for Nick to step in front of her, blocking her exit.

“Hey, Julie!” He grinned at her. She gave him a tight smile, moving to step around him, but he moved to, blocking her again. “I didn’t see you after lunch yesterday, are you okay?” The question itself sounded considerate, but the way he said it was a little too knowing. As had been everything he’s said to her in the past couple of days. What exactly he knew, she couldn’t tell.

“Hi, Nick,” she avoided eye contact with him. “Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. But I have somewhere to be,” she side-stepped him again, only for him to grab her hand and stop her. This made her turn back to look at him.

“Hey, are you avoiding me?” He asked, toning his voice for it to be a joke, but when Julie met his eyes, he was leering at her a little. This was so strange, and not like Nick at all. Why was he acting so weird?

“Look, I’m sorry, but I really do have somewhere to be. Like now.” With that said, she looked at their hands again. A beat passed and it became clear he wasn’t going to let her go on his own. She yanked her hand away and walked off, making a beeline straight to the music room.

“Sorry I’m late!” She burst into the room, “Nick cornered me,” she explained, looking down from her friend’s gaze.

“It’s okay, girl. Are you okay?” Flynn asked her, surprising the girl. Whatever the guys had said must have worked, because Flynn didn’t look mad, or sad, at all anymore. And she was actually talking to her. And Julie couldn’t have been happier.

She raced forward and hugged her friend, holding on tight. To her relief, Flynn hugged her back. The two sunk to the floor, keeping their embrace.

“I am so, so sorry,” Julie whispered to her friend.

“I know girl,” Flynn opened her eyes and smiled at her, blinking her tears away. “The guys told me how horrible I made you feel, even said you fainted when you got home yesterday.” So that was what happened, Julie thought. She had fainted… that made sense. She definitely hadn't remembered falling asleep herself. “I’m so sorry I worried you that much.” The two smiled at each other, still embracing, tears in their eyes. They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Flynn began to sing. immediately recognised the song.

I left you on a bad note,  
Left you on a sad note,  
Guess that means I’m buying lunch today.

Julie laughed a little at this, shaking her head at her friend, before singing the next verse herself.

You know all my secrets,  
I know all your demons,  
Guess that means some things they never,

Flynn joined in for the next line, the two’s voices mingling together in perfect harmony.

They never change,

Flynn continued, resting her forehead against Julie’s.

I think I know what you, what you mean,  
If I lost you I’d lose the best part of me.

Julie hugged Flynn again, almost sobbing at that. He friend really did get her, better than anyone else ever could. She was so lucky to have her in her life.

“Sooo,” Flynn trailed off, pulling back so the two could talk to each other, but not far enough to stop the hug. “Alex and Luke talking for like a full hour last night, and at some point, they asked if I would be the manager for you guys. Are you okay with that?” She asked the other girl in a nervous tone.

Julie’s eyes widened, she hadn’t expected that. But now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense for Flynn to be their official manager. She already booked half of their gigs and ran their social media accounts.

“Of course!” She laughed, pulling her friend in again. “Let’s be honest, you’ve unofficially been out manager for like two months now.” The two girls laughed at this. The bell interrupted further conversation, signalling the end of lunch. The girls reluctantly parted. “Come to the studio after school today?” Julie asked, hoping her friend would agree.

“Wouldn’t miss it. Besides, I have to make sure my band is rehearsing and not goofing off,” she laughed. The girls hugged one more time. “See you then,” Flynn whispered before leaving.

As soon as Julie got home, she raced into the garage and pulled all three guys into the tightest hug. She was so, so grateful to them, and everything they did for her.

“Thank you guys so much. You’re the best,” she whispered, squeezing them one more time before letting go. She smiled brightly at each one of them. She really did have the best friends. The guys smiled back, knowing things must have gone well between her and Flynn at school. “Now let’s get to playing!” She whooped, moving over to the piano, starting rehearsal.

“Girl! Nine-one-one means nine-one-one! Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Flynn’s voice yelled from outside the studio about ten minutes later. Everyone turned to look at the doors as they flung open and Flynn raced in, making a bee-line for her friend. Only to smack straight into Reggie, sending the two of them and his bass tumbling to the ground.

Julie, Alex and Luke stared in shock at what they had seen. Meanwhile, Flynn and Reggie stared at one another, trying to work out what happened. Wide-eyed, Flynn reached her hand forward, expecting for it to go through him, but it didn’t. Cue the gob-smacked expressions all around the room. A beat passed, everyone still staring at Flynn’s hand on Reggie’s shoulder, the two frozen in shock. Suddenly, she felt her hand slip and pass through him.

“What the heck?” Flynn asked, waving her hand through where she knew his shoulder was, even though she could no longer see him. Julie, realising her friend couldn’t see the ghosts anymore, stood next to Luke. She leant her arm on his shoulder. “How did I do that?” Flynn asked in a confused tone.

“Maybe it was the music?” Julie suggested, struggling her shoulders. They all looked at her confused, so she elaborated. “Think about it, before people could see you guys when you played music, but now you don't need it. What if, when you play, everyone else can touch you now instead?”

“That would make sense,” Alex muttered standing up. “Let’s test it!” He declared. “One, two, three, four!” He counted down, before playing a simple beat on the drums. Julie went back to the piano and Reggie picked up his bass again, them and Luke all repeating a few chords. It didn’t sound good, but it didn’t need to. Flynn tried once again, and as they suspected, her hand didn’t go through him. “Now Julie, stop playing.” She did as told and stopped playing the piano. They waited, but Flynn’s hand didn’t fall through Reggie's shoulder. meaning they didn’t need to be playing with Julie for it to happen. “Now, Reggie!” The boy stopped playing, and again, Flynn’s hand stayed where it was. Now that was weird.

“Does that mean only one of us has to be playing for all three of us to be tangible?” He asked confusedly, still staring at Flynn’s hand on his shoulder. Alex and Luke looked at each other, before stopping playing. It took a few seconds, but Flynn’s hand soon slipped through him again. Once again, Julie stood and leaned on Luke so that her friend could see (or at least that’s what she told herself).

“Well, that’s pretty cool!” Flynn buzzed excitedly, so happy that she could touch the boys now, even if it was only sometimes. She waved her hand through Reggie again. This would still take some getting used to. Julie’s phone rang, interrupting any further conversation. ‘Crooked Teeth’ (sung by Luke, not Trevor) played from her speakers. (Reggie had been so offended when he found out that that was her ringtone, Luke, on the other hand, was ecstatic). To everyone’s shock, Flynn’s hand stopped being able to go through Reggie. She accidentally whacked him, hard, having not expected it.

“Hello?” Julie asked, numb, answering the phone and putting it to her ear, still staring at her friends. This was all too freaky. “Tia?… Okay, yeah… Yepp I’ll come inside now.” She hung up a minute later, looking at the band. “Tia is here and wants me to come to spend some time with her. Bye guys, I probably won’t come back tonight. She doesn’t like me spending too much time out here,” she waved at the guys before grabbing Flynn and leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally love, love, love reprises in cinema. I think it’s some of the most powerful songwriting featured in whatever it’s in, and some of my favourite scenes from so many movies and shows are all because of a reprise (Frozen: For The First Time In Forever, Moana: How Far I’ll Go, Zombies: Someday, Tangled: When Will My Life Begin, Mother Knows Best, Wind In My Hair, Waiting In The Wings, Life After Happily Ever After). There’s just something amazing about being in a cinema for the first time and hearing a song that you recognise because it played earlier. The tonal shift is so powerful as you acknowledge that times have changed from when the song was first sung, yet things have still stayed the same, which is what it represents.
> 
> Coming up next: Alex hears Julie playing perfect harmony, and the two have a long talk about feelings.


	5. Perfect Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Julie bond over Perfect Harmony, as she finally shared the full song with someone. Aaaand there's another new ghost power. What now??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damnnn, I really did just write 3400 words of this. Teehee.

Julie opened the studio doors after school, only to find it void of the three ghost boys. Shrugging, Julie walked in and dropped her bag before sitting down at the piano. Absently she fingered some chords. The song had been playing on repeat in her mind for a week now. She hummed along as she played, beginning to sing quietly when she reached the second verse.

Here in front of me,  
They're shining so much brighter,  
Than I have ever seen,  
Life can be so mean,  
But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave,

“That’s really nice,” Julie jumped, falling off the seat of the piano in shock (and a little bit of fear) at the voice behind her. “Shit, sorry, Julie,” she looked up from her new place on the floor. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw that at least it was Alex and not Luke.

Alex offered her his hand, which she gladly took, and pulled her up. Julie returned to the piano seat, scooting over a bit and motioning for him to join her. He sat down next to her, smiling at her.

“Soooo,” he trailed off, and Julie knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to ask who the song was for. “Is the song for who I think it’s for?” He eventually asked. Julie whipped her head around to face him again. Okay… not what she had been expecting. Wait, he already knew she liked Luke? Was she that obvious?! Seeing the panic in her eyes as she spiralled into full freak-out mode, he waved his hands around. “I mean, I’ve seen the way you look at him, not that it’s super obvious or anything,” he was sweating now.

“It’s fine,” she sighed, lowering her head and playing the first chord again. “Yeah, it is,” she paused, thinking about exactly how much she wanted to reveal about it all. But then, its Alex, she thought. He was trustworthy. He could keep a secret. And most importantly, he might be able to tell her if she was being completely ridiculous.

“Can,” he gulped, clearly nervous about asking, “can I hear it?” He fully expected her to turn him down, say it wasn’t ready, or she wasn’t ready to sing it. Or worse, that she just didn’t want to sing it to him.

“Yeah, but on one condition,” her answer surprised him, he looked up to meet her eyes as she looked away. “It’s kind of… a duet?” She said, glancing up at his eyes again as they widened.

“You- You want ME to sing it with you?” He asked, completely shell shocked. She nodded. “But, I don’t know the lyrics?” He asked, a last-ditch effort to get out of it without hurting her feelings. While he wasn’t a horrible singer, it wasn’t really his thing. It didn’t make him as comfortable as banging on the drums in the back. He wasn’t a front-man, that had always been Luke’s job.

“I wrote it down!” She declared, jumping up and going to her school bag, still sitting forgotten by the door. She pulled a sparkly purple book from her bad before returning to sit next to him again. “It just… doesn’t feel right singing it alone, you know?” She smiled weakly, looking up at him.

Alex could hear his resolve crack, as he sighed, giving in. Everyone said Luke had a good puppy-dog face, but Julie didn’t too bad herself. How could he say no to that face? He shifted closer to her so he could read the book in her hands. She looked reluctant to open it, but she did. She turned to the right page, dog-eared he noticed. Another thing she picked up from Luke, as her books used to be crisp and unfolded. She handed it to him. The page also looked very worn, he could tell she must have thumbed it and turned to it a lot. He looked at her one final time as if to ask ‘are you sure this is okay,’ she nodded and gave him a wider smile.

Each line had been written with care, in her neat cursive. Very different than the normal chicken-scratch of Luke’s songs he'd grown used to. He nodded at her, letting her know she could start the song. He watched as she played the first few chords, waiting before beginning to sing.

Step into my world,  
Bittersweet love story 'bout a girl,

Julie smiled as he sang. He really did have an amazing voice, it was too bad he wasn’t comfortable singing more. She might be able to work with him on that. The confidence boost might do him wonders for his anxiety. But she knew drums were his passion. Her time came to sing and went, and then they were singing together.

It was a weird feeling, she had to admit. His voice was so different from Luke’s, and he, Flynn and her mom had been the only people she had ever really sung with. It didn’t make her as uncomfortable as she assumed it would. They sounded nice together.

“Wow,” he muttered as she played the final note. “That- that was amazing Julie,” he said only after she removed her hands from the keys. “If it makes you feel any better, I know for a fact he feels the same way about you,” he smiled as they turned to face each other. Technically, he was breaking bro-code by telling Julie this. But after that performance, he felt connected to her, and she was being so raw and honest. He had to tell her that her feelings were returned.

He expected her to smile, say something about how relieved she was, hug him then race off to find Luke. To his surprise, she did none of that. Instead, her face fell, her eyes dropping to her lap.

“Yeah, I thought so,” she gave a weak nod. Now, this confused Alex. If she liked Luke and knew he liked her back, then why hadn’t she done something by now? “Honestly? It would be easier if I didn’t think he might like me,” she chuckled bitterly. She wiped at her face as if expecting tears, only to find her cheek dry. “If he didn’t like me, I could move on and get over it all, like Flynn keeps telling me to do.”

“Why do you want to get over it?” He asked, more confused than ever. This wasn’t making any sense to him. If you liked someone, you should tell them, right? There was also that little comment about Flynn not approving, but he’d ask more about that later.

“Alex,” she sighed, looking up at him again, the look in her eyes was clear, she’d given up. But why? “You guys are dead,” he flinched at the words.

He hadn’t considered himself dead for a long time now. Sure, he wasn’t alive, but dead wasn’t the word he would use either. Ever since meeting Julie and Willy. And playing their dream. And finally being able to touch Julie. Yeah, he definitely didn’t consider himself dead anymore. He told her exactly this, struggling to find the words to explain how he felt.

“Julie, I don’t know if Luke told you this,” he paused for a second. Maybe if Luke didn’t tell her, it was for a reason, before shrugging it off. “We- we have a heartbeat now.” She tilted her head at him.

“Yeah? So?” She asked, looking so confused, trying to understand what he was saying. He took her hand, folding it and pressing her fingers against his other wrist, right where his pulse was.

“Before we became able to touch you, we didn’t have a heartbeat.” Her eyes widened, her jaw falling open. “You made us more alive than ever before. And every day, it’s like we keep becoming more and more alive,” he was struggling for words again. There was no way to describe exactly how they had all been feeling. She continued to stare at him, trying to take in everything he was saying. “Did you know we sleep now? And I don’t just mean we are capable of it, I mean we actually need to sleep. At least a couple of hours every night.”

“Wait, but I thought ghosts couldn’t sleep?” She looked so confused, her mind racing.

“That’s what I mean Julie. Normal ghosts can’t sleep at all, let alone actually need to,” he was trying so hard to get his point across. “We’re not normal ghosts, not anymore. I would even go as far as to think we might be becoming alive again.” Her jaw dropped once more, “don’t get me wrong, I don’t know if we ever actually will be alive again. But at the rate we’re going…” he trailed off, looking at the frozen girl.

Poor Julie, she must have had her whole world shaken. Everything she thought she knew about them, changing in a matter of minutes. She had no idea what her friends were going through, potentially coming to life and all. And there was the added fact of if they did come to life, her and Luke could…

“Are you telling me this as a way to reassure me to not give up on Luke?” She asked, chuckling, knowing full well exactly why he was saying this. He grinned at her.

“Ah, you know me too well,” he bumped her with her shoulder, lightening the mood a little as she pushed him back. “We kind of all agreed to not tell you about all this,” he looked down, frowning. “Well, all agreed is putting it loosely. Luke didn’t want to get your hopes us, and he convinced Reggie. In my defence I wanted to tell you everything,” he smiled at her, making her smile back.

“I can see why he didn’t want to tell me because my hopes are definitely up,” she laughed genuinely, making Alex grin at her. “But I’m glad you told me, thank you, Alex.” She wrapped her arms around him. He returned the hug, squeezing her a little before letting go. “So, when did you write this?” He asked, picking up the notebook and jumping up, desperate to relieve the tension. And he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease the girl.

“Hey!” She jumped up, chasing him around the room, desperate to get her book back. Almost too desperate, Alex couldn’t help but notice, a smirk creeping onto his face. He poofed up to the loft, ignoring her shouts, giving himself a few extra seconds to see what she was hiding. Flicking to the last page he saw it. Right when she reached him, he burst out laughing, seeing what had been written all over the page. Julie’s face turned bright red in a way that even her dark skin couldn’t hide. She snatched the book back from him with a huff. Alex was on the ground now, practically wheezing. He tried and failed to recapture his breath.

“J-Julie Patterson!” He eventually coughed out, laughing all over again, clutching his side in pain from the stitch.

“You’re horrible!” Julie huffed, plopping down on the ground with a pout, while Alex tried to gather his bearings. It took a few minutes, but eventually, he sat up again. Chuckles still slipping past his lips, as he tried to contain them. Judging from the glare on Julie’s face, she was about ready to throw him over the railing of the loft. Which, while he wasn’t certain if it would hurt, he wasn’t willing to test.

“Sorry, sorry. But yeah, you're totally over it,” he laughed, stopping himself from breaking down again.

“Yeah, yeah, like you’re one to talk,” she rolled her eyes at him. The two settled into a comfortable silence, still grinning at one another. Julie leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Luke chose that moment to pop into the lower level of the studio, calling out and asking if anyone was there. Julie and Alex exchanged a look, both glad that he hadn’t shown up any earlier.

“Up here!” Alex called, poofing down the stairs. Only to be surprised when Julie poofed down with him. “What the-?!” The two yelped, jumping apart and staring at one another.

“Uh, what just happened?” Luke asked, pointing at the two in shock.

Alex reached forward, placing his hand on Julie’s shoulder, and poofing himself to the other side of the room. Again, she went with him. Only her hair-tie and her jacket both disappeared this time.

“Woahhh, that’s so weird, what the heck!” She shook her head, then noticing her lack of hair-tie. “Hey! Where’d my stuff go?” She pouted, looking around the room.

“Yeah, that happened to Reggie for a little while,” Luke laughed thinking about it. “One time he lost his shirt.”

“Wait, could I LOSE MY SHIRT?!” She panicked, turning on Alex and shaking him. “Never do that again, I don’t want to lose my shirt!”

Luke had meant it to be a joke, he gulped, trying not to think of the implications of what she had said. Torn between two extremes. One part hated the idea, already feeling protective, and wanted to agree that she should never do it again. The other part… He averted his eyes.

“Nah, you just gotta focus,” Alex said weekly, “now please stop shaking me.” He looked sick. Like he might throw up. Was he able to do that now? Another thing she would have to ask later.

“Sorry,” she laughed at his face, letting go of him. She took a deep breath, thinking about her jacket. Sure enough, it poofed back on her a moment later. Next, she thought about her hair-tie. Again it was back, only not in her hair this time (maybe the ghost magic couldn’t handle that). Instead, it plopped onto the ground in front of her. She grumbled as she picked it up and slipped it around her wrist. “Can we try it again?” She asked, slightly more excited now that she (sort of) knew how to stop her stuff from disappearing. Or at least how to get it back once it was gone.

“Try with me,” Luke said, poofing next to the girl and grabbing her hand. He noticed her and Alex exchange a knowing smile and panicked a little. What had they been talking about while he was gone? “To test if it works with all three of us?” His statement came out like a question, as he tried to justify wanting to hold her hand again. “Make sure you don’t lose your shirt,” he smirked, winking at her, regaining some of his confidence. At her huff, he knew it was safe and poofed himself to the loft.

It was such a weird feeling to Julie. Tingles starting in her hand and rushing up through her arm and spreading through her whole body. The tingles only lasted a few seconds, disappearing as soon as they appeared.

“Try something longer distance!” Alex called up to them. He was curious to see how far this newfound power would go. Luke sent Julie a look, making sure she was ready. She nodded, letting him know she was good, and then he poofed away. But she didn’t go with him.

Alex poofed up to her, grabbed her hand, and waited for her to be ready, before poofing back to the bottom floor. A few seconds, Luke popped back to the loft, then the bottom floor once seeing Julie wasn’t there.

“Didn’t work,” he stated the obvious.

“Maybe we could try together?” Alex asked, thinking that with more power it might work. “Where did you try to go before? We can work out a few limits on how far we can take her.”

“I tried to go to the other side of town, and there was no luck,” Luke shrugged. “This will be super handy with sneaking you out for future late-night gigs,” he winked at her, making her roll her eyes. Julie held out her other hand, the one not still holding Alex’s, out to Luke, which he took.

“Where to?” Alex asked, looking at the other two. “Keep in mind people will be able to see us all. They might be a little creeped out if we appear out of nowhere, so try somewhere quiet.”

“Try across town again, now that there’s two of you?” Julie, questioned, shrugging a little. The guys shrugged too and checked she was ready before poofing to the other side of town. Once again though, Julie remained in the studio. Luke was back a few moments later, Julie sent him a questioning look, wondering where Alex had gone.

“Alex thought he saw Willy, said to say he’d be back,” Luke chuckled as Julie giggled and rolled her eyes. That boy sure was smitten. Although she couldn’t talk, she smiled up at Luke, trying and failing to look away before he noticed.

“Sooo,” Julie trailed off, trying to find something to talk about. Not that the silence was uncomfortable, just that they hadn’t had a chance to talk much the past few days. “Where did you go today?” She eventually asked. After all, he had been gone for almost an hour after she got back from school, and who knows how long before then.

“I,” He trailed off looking down before taking a deep breath. “I was visiting my parents,” Julie’s mouth turned into an o. “You know, for the first time since you gave them Unsaid Emily,” he smiled at her. She smiled back, glad he was talking to her about this.

“How are they doing?” She asked, hoping the two were doing well. She didn’t know Mr and Mrs Patterson very well, but they seemed like good people. And they had been through so much.

“They’re- They’re doing better. Have I said thank you enough for that?” He asked, grinning at her, stepping closer. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

“Only about thirty times.” The two continued to smile at each other. “How are you doing?” She asked, praying he wouldn’t close up when he flinched a little. “I-…” He gulped, weighing out whether he should answer her honestly. “I’m fine.” Her shoulders sagged at the vague response, which he noticed and felt guilty for. “Sometimes,” he continued, making her look up at him again, “sometimes I wish I could talk to them again. But this is so much better than it was. At least they have some closure.” Then a thought struck Julie. She gasped, jumping and grabbing his shoulders, making him jump too. His eyes darted to meet hers again.

“Why didn’t I think of this earlier!” She shouted, cursing herself for being so stupid.

“Uh? Think of what?” Luke gulped, trying hard to remain focussed. With her so close, her hands on his shoulders and gazing deep into her eyes...

“You can talk to them!” She shouted, shaking him a little. He looked confused for a second before it hit him. When he touched Julie, lifers could actually see and hear him again. He would talk to his mum. Sing her Unsaid Emily himself. Tell her everything he should have told her a long time ago. Apologise to her. Maybe even hug her, if he played his guitar.

“I… I can,” he muttered in a trance, his thoughts racing. He could actually do this. Couldn’t he?

“What are you waiting for?! Let’s go!” Julie smiled at him. He nodded numbly before he realised something.

“It might be a little far for me to take you alone,” he muttered, unsure if it would work.

“Well, all we can do is try. And if it doesn’t work then we’ll go in a few stops!” Her infectious energy was rubbing off on him. His face was starting to hurt from all the smiling he was doing.

“Okay,” he grinned at her. The two then poofed away. Moments later, Alex poofed back into the now-empty studio.

“It wasn’t him. It was not him, “ he muttered to the vacant room. He spun around, looking all around only to find Luke and Julie gone in the three minutes he was out. He shrugged and moved to sit on the couch and take a nap. He was more than a little emotionally exhausted. The rest would do him well. Right as he closed his eyes, the studio doors burst open. He tried to ignore the noise, knowing that if it was a lifer they wouldn’t be able to see him.

“Ummm, we may have a problem,” Reggie’s voice came. Alex groaned, sitting up and opening his eyes. He prepared to scold Reggie for disturbing his nap. Only for his eyes to widen as he laid them upon Reggie… and Ray… Who was looking right at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Some Patterson family love. Reggie and Ray development. Bobby??? BAMF Julie.


	6. The Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke finally go and visit Emily and Mitch so that the family can have a little face time. And Ray sees Reggie?! What?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how confusing those updates must have been. I went through and did some serious editing to make the whole story more coherent and easier to read. This is the new chapter here, the new chapter six, as I combined the old one and two together, making the old six the new five. Sorry haha.

Surprisingly, Luke and Julie were able to make it to the Patterson house in a single trip. Julie noted this, reminding herself to tell Alex this, to get a range on how far one ghost could take her. Maybe they could make a map. It would definitely help ease Alex’s anxiety about the change, even if only a little.

“Here we are,” Luke whispered, staring at the closed door. Julie could see him shaking a little, afraid of what was to come next. She squeezed his hand in hers.

“Here we are,” she repeated in a more confident tone, forcing him to meet her eyes. She smiled at him, trying to reassure him. The smile he sent back was shaky, but it was there. She raised their clasped hands to the doorbell, ignoring how Luke tensed again. Together, they pressed the doorbell. She dropped his hand when the door began to open.

“Julie?” Julie raised her eyes to meet the wide eyes of Mitch Patterson. “What are you doing here? Please, come in,” He ushered her through the front door. Julie smiled, thanking him before entering, checking to make sure Luke was following. “Can I get you something?”

“No, thank you, Mr Patterson,” Julie smiled up at the man.

“Please, call me Mitch,” he responded, a sad, yet gentle smile on his face. “Em, come here. Julie is here,” he raised his voice a little, calling his wife into the room. Julie heard Luke’s breathing turn shallow as his mother entered the room. How she wished she could hold his hand right now. Comfort him. Assure him everything would be all right. But no, not yet.

“Hello Julie, it’s so lovely to see you again.” To Julie and Luke’s surprised, Emily pulled the girl in for a tight hug. Julie returned the hug a moment later. “Please, sit,” Emily smiled at the girl, walking over to a couch with her husband. She gestured to the one across from them. Julie thanked her and sat on the couch. She sent a look at Luke, and discretely patted the cushion beside her, urging him to sit, which he did.

“Mr and Mrs Patter-” Julie paused at the look sent her way by the couple and rephrased her words. “Mitch, Emily,” they smiled at this, “I need to talk to both of you about something very important.” The couple’s smiles dropped a little as they took in her words.

“Of course, Julie. What’s wrong?” Mitch asked the girl in a concerned tone.

“This is going to sound absolutely insane. Seriously. You’re going to think I’m crazy at first,” Julie warned them. The two sent knowing glances at each other before urging her to continue. Julie took a deep breath. “I can see, and talk to, your son Luke.” Julie sat with bated breath, waiting. Waiting for the disbelief, the anger and the hurt, that she knew was coming, to reflect on their faces. Only it never came. The couple’s smiles remained on their faces, still understanding, still caring.

“We know,” Emily whispered, continuing to smile at the young girl across from her. Julie and Luke’s eyes both widened, the two turned to look at each other, floored by this turn of events.

“W-What do you mean you know?” Julie asked, staring at the couple in shock. How could they know? They couldn’t know. How could they know? They didn’t know.

“We know that Luke has been coming by recently.” Mitch paused, pulling his wife in for a tight hug. “The first time we noticed something different was his birthday.”

“I could feel him here with us,” Emily explained, smiling down at her hands. “He blew out his candle, and he sat with us. At first, I thought I was imagining things. My grief and hopes, projecting his presence into the room,” she clenched her fists. Mitch lied his hands over his wife’s, unclenching her fists to entwine their fingers together. “Then you came along, and gave us that song.”

“Suddenly,” Mitch continued, “his presence wasn’t just an idea. He was here, we could feel it. And we could hear him sing when you gave us the song.” Julie glanced at Luke, trying to gauge how he was responding to all this. Tears ran down his face as he stared at his parents.

“And we know he’s here now,” Emily finished, looking straight at Luke. Luke gasped. He knew she couldn’t actually see him, but she knew exactly where he was anyway. She smiled at what looked to her like the empty spot on the couch beside Julie. Her son was there. She could feel it.

“I have something to show you,” Julie eventually spoke up. This captured the couple’s, and Luke’s, attention once more. “Again, it’s a long story, but something has changed. And we’ve discovered that we can do this,” Julie paused. She reached her hand toward Luke, all three Patterson’s watching her hand with bated breath.

Oh God. He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready to see them again, or more, for them to see him. What was he going to say? What was he going to do? How could he even begin to apologise to them? He wasn’t given any more time to over-think or to panic, as Julie’s hand came in contact with his. He heard his parents gasps, looking up at them and seeing them both staring straight at him. Tears welling in their eyes as they sprung up from their seats.

“Luke,” Emily chocked out, tears slipping down her face. Her and Mitch stepped around the coffee table that separated them from their son.

“Hi Mom. Dad.” He whispered, chocking on his tears as well, smiling up at them.

Emily raised her hand out to her son, her husband doing the same. Luke reached his hand out as well, only to flinch and cringe backward when his hand passed through theirs. Julie placed a hand on his shoulder, soothing him, grounding him. He smiled a weak smile at her, his eyes saying the thanks he couldn’t voice. Though Julie wanted so much to cry right now, she had to be strong. For Luke.

“How are you here? Why now?” Mitch asked after a few moments, once the three of them had calmed down enough to talk.

“It- It’s a long, long story,” Luke said, looking at Julie more than his parents. He didn’t think he could meet their eyes too much. It would make this all too real. Julie was his anchor.

“We have time,” Emily smiled at her son, making him meet her eyes for a moment. That one look told him exactly how desperate she was for answers. And she was willing to listen. Luke took a deep breath, clenched Julie’s hand tighter, released his breath and spoke.

“Well,” he started, looking at Julie one more time. Silently, he asked her exactly how much she was comfortable with him telling them about her. She smiled at him, squeezing his hand again, letting him know he could tell them everything. So he did.

He started with the hotdogs of death, and how that vegetarian ‘friend’ of theirs had lucked out. He told them about Julie playing their CD and them appearing in their old studio 25 years later. Told them about Julie’s mum and her detachment from music, squeezing her hand again. He told them about finding out that people could still hear them when they played. How the one thing he lived for was still possible even after death. Then about the performance at her school, and how people could see them when they were playing with Julie.

“You must be very special. And connected, for some reason,” Emily had said, smiling down at their connected hands. A knowing look in her eyes. While they hadn’t always got along, she could still tell when her Luke was in love.

Luke then told them about Caleb. And what a horrible mistake they had made, all to try and get revenge on their ex-friend. To his joy, rather than scolding him, his parents shared his disgust and outrage at what Bobby had done to them. He told them about the stamps, and how much pain they had put him through. His parents’ and Julie’s eyes watered as he explained the excruciation he suffered. He then told them about the Orpheum gig and the hug afterwards.

“Congratulations, Luke,” Mitch smiled at his son.

“Yeah, we know how important that was to you. And we’re so glad you got to live that dream with your new and improved band.”

“Yeah, me too.” Luke squeezed Julie’s hand again, smiling at the girl. Her grin matched his.

“Since that night after the Orpheum, the guys have been getting new powers,” Julie explained. She wanted to tell them about Alex’s theory, but she couldn’t put them through that. Especially if it didn’t end up happening, and the guys didn’t come back to life. So for now, she settled for this. “Like this one,” she squeezed Luke’s hand again, giving him an encouraging smile. He knew exactly what she wanted him to do.

He took a deep breath in, releasing it a moment later. He thought about his guitar, and the next second, it was in his lap. His parents gasped at the sudden appearance of the instrument. He looked up at them, meeting their eyes again.

“Any requests?” He asked, despite knowing full well what they were going to ask him to play. He mentally steeled his mine, not lightening his grip on Julie even a little. He didn’t think he was ready for this. But it was time.

“You know what we want to hear,” Emily smiled at her son, tears already appearing in her eyes. She had read the song and heard him sing it, once before. But watching him play was going to be a completely different experience.

“We want to hear everything you want to play. But start with Emily,” Mitch smiled, placing his hand on his wife’s shoulder. Luke took a deep breath before strumming on his guitar. He opened his mouth and sung.

First things first,  
We start the scene in reverse,  
All of the lines rehearsed,  
Disappeared from my mind,

The whole time he sang, he was completely unable to meet his parent's eyes while he played. If he did, he was sure he would breakdown, rendered completely unable to play.

Unsaid Emily.

He finally finished, looking up at his parents, unable to hold back the second wave of tears when he was their faces.

“Keep playing Luke,” Julie smiled at him, putting her hand on his shoulder. It was then that he realised her true goal. “Emily, Mitch, come here,” she ushered the two forward. When they stepped closer, she took their hands and placed them on Luke’s shoulders. Luke flinched violently, and Emily yanked her hand back in shock, having not expected to touch him.

The two then surged forward and wrapped their son in a tight hug for the first time in twenty-six years. The hug left Luke motionless as he soaked up their embrace. He couldn’t play anymore. Ten seconds passed before the couple slipped through their son once more. Only it didn’t last. As a sweet melody began to play through the house, and Luke became tangible once more. The three looked to the piano, where Julie was playing what Luke recognised as the opening chords of Wake Up.

The family remained in their embrace for as long as they could, but eventually, the song came to an end. When Julie asked them if they wanted her to play again, they assured her that it was okay. With their confirmation, she sat back next to Luke. She hugged him, only partially so his parents could see him again. She was the glue, holding all his loose pieces together.

After another hour of discussion, it was finally time to go. The sun had long since set, and everyone in the room had yawned at least nine times between them. Reluctantly, they parted ways, with Julie promising to come with Luke at least once per week to see them. Of course, she happily agreed. She played a few more chords on the piano, allowing the Pattersons to hug goodbye. They shocked her when Emily and Mitch pulled her into the hug. It didn’t last long, as soon, without her playing, Luke disappeared. But it still meant so much to all of them. They gave Julie one final squeeze, before sending the two poofing back to their studio.

Right to where Ray Molina was waiting. Two sulking ghosts sat on the couch behind where he stood, his arms crossed as he glared at the two. Julie gulped immediately. Where to begin.

~ With Reggie and Ray, starting a little before the end of Chapter 5 ~

“Hey, Ray!” Reggie greeted happily, popping himself into the kitchen with the man. As usual, he didn’t receive a response, but that didn’t matter to him. “Whatcha up to?” He asked, taking a seat in the chair next to the man and looking at his laptop screen. He winced a little when he saw the pictures on the screen. Ray was scrolling through old photos of Julie’s mum.

Reggie smiled a bittersweet smile at what was on the screen. It appeared to be a very young Julie, an infant Carlos. A younger Ray with brown hair, and a woman who looked like an older Julie sat behind them. She really did look exactly like her Mom. They all looked so happy.

Ray scrolled to the next photo. This one was of Julie and her Mom sitting together at a piano, apparently teaching Julie how to play. Julie only looked around three in the photo, meaning she must have played for a very long time. Something that was strange, was how similar the studio looked in the photo. It looked exactly the same as to when Sunset Curve rehearsed there. Save for the piano. Like they had yet to clear it out.

That didn’t make any sense to him. If Julie were three in the photo, then it still would have been at least eleven years since he, Luke and Alex had died. Why was the studio kept the same? That was a long time for a rehearsal space under new ownership to stay the same, even after someone has died.

The next photo completely floored Reggie. It was Ray, super young this time, around only twenty years old, but that wasn’t what caught Reggie’s attention. It was who he was with. It was Bobby, and that girl they met the night they died, Rose. He now recognised Rose as Julie’s Mom from the earlier photos. Meaning they had met her. Which would also explain how Julie wound up with that Sunset Curve shirt. So they all knew each other after he died then? That was… a weird concept, that he couldn’t wrap his head around.

The next couple of photos Ray scrolled through seemed to all be from around that time. There was a lot of him and Rose, and few of him and Bobby, and a few more of all three of them together. They were clearly all friends.

Then Reggie saw the next photo. It was Ray and Rose at a concert together, on a date of some kind. But it was at Bobby’s concert. And the lyrics on the screen in the photo indicated that he was singing ‘Long Weekend’. One of their songs. The next photos were Ray and Rose, backstage together with Bobby. Rose knew the band, and she let Bobby take credit for all those songs.

“What the hell!” Reggie couldn’t control his outburst, standing up from his chair. He had to tell Julie. Somehow. To his shock though, Ray jumped a foot in the air and whipped his head around, looking straight at him.

“Who are you, and how the hell did you get in my house?” Ray yelled, pointing at him, standing as well. Reggie gaped at him for a few long moments before fainting.

Ray stared at the boy, now unconscious on his kitchen floor. Now that he looked closely at the boy, he recognised him as the Bassist from his daughter's band. But that still didn’t explain why he was here, instead of in Sweden. Or how he got into his house for that matter. He watched the boy stir and sit up from the ground.

“Wow, I had the craziest dream that you could see me, Ray,” he chuckled, standing up and rubbing his head. Now, this confused Ray. What did he mean he could see him? As if he couldn’t normally? He could always see their holograms?

“Of course I can see yo-” right as he was speaking, the boy vanishing from his sight cut him off. “Where did you go?” He asked, confused. He spun around the room, looking for the boy who had just been standing before him.

Reggie chuckled humourlessly. Yeah, that checked out. Now he couldn’t see him. He supposed wherever Julie was, she had been touching Luke or Alex, and had just stopped. Then, to Ray’s surprise, the boy flickered back in again, standing in the same spot.

“There you are!” Ray cried, pointing at him, making Reggie look up. “I don’t understand, are you still a hologram? Where’s the projector?” He asked, spinning around again, looking for the little object. Reggie sighed and opened his mouth to explain when Ray looked around wildly again.

Reggie waited for what he knew was inevitable and waited for himself to be able to become visible again. As soon as Ray’s eyes locked in on him again, he rushed forward.

“Come with me to the studio!” He said in a hurry, rushing to the back door of the house. Ray watched as once again, the boy disappeared. Except to his shock, even with the boy gone, his back door opened. Ray gaped as he followed the boy to the studio. Right as he opened the studio doors, he because visible again.

“Ummm, we may have a problem,” Reggie said, bursting into the garage. He heard Alex groan, as he sat up. Reggie could tell he must have disturbed him from a nap. But they had more pressing issues. He saw Alex’s eyes widen as they landed on Ray behind him. Reggie watched recognition flooded Ray’s eyes, knowing he could see the two of them, at least for now. He noticed Julie and Luke’s lack of presence, meaning they had no way of knowing when they would stop being visible.

“Uh, Reg? What’s happening?” Alex asked in a low voice. Reggie panicked a little at this. Alex sounded too calm. Alex was never calm. He was in trooouubbllee.

“Uh, he kinda sorta saw me?” He asked, his tone coming off as more of a question than a statement. Alex’s eyes widened as he jumped up from the couch in a rush.

“What do you mean he saw you?!”

“It wasn’t my fault! I was sitting in the kitchen like always when suddenly poof, he could see me, then poof he couldn’t. And it’s been flickering ever since!” Reggie tried to convey that it wasn’t his fault, this time. Unlike what happened with Carlos, which he admitted was one-hundred percent on him.

“Ohh yeah, must have been when we were practising teleporting.” At Reggie’s confused look, Alex shrugged, telling him he’d explain later. “Well can he see us now?” He asked, looking up at the quiet man.

“Yes I can,” Ray explained, leering at the boys in confusion. He didn’t understand any of this. Then the boys disappeared again. “Well not anymore,” he muttered, before realising there was no point muttering. “Wait, the holograms are gone, you can’t hear me, duh.” The man was clearly frustrated as he began to pace around the room.

Reggie waited to become visible again, as he had been doing on and off for the past five minutes. He waited, and waited, only it didn’t come. Ray didn’t look back at them, only continued to pace around the room in frustration.

“Did Luke and Julie stop touching?” He asked a few moments later, turning to Alex in confusion. They kinda needed to Ray to see them if they wanted to explain everything to him.

“Must have,” Alex muttered, joining the man in his pacing around the room. “We need to find another way to communicate. We can’t keep going like this-” he waved his hand around the room frantically-“anymore.”

“Wait, I’ve got it!” Reggie burst, before poofing out of the room. He returned a few moments later, holding up two whiteboards and markers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I really wanted to include Reggie and Alex's talk with Ray in this chapter, as well as the beginning of the confrontation with Bobby. But that was before this chapter finished at 3458 words. Guess you'll have to wait till next time. Lucky for you guys I'm on a writing streak and it's already half done, so it'll be soon.


	7. Bobby?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobby comes to have a little "chat" with Julie. Only for her to turn it around and instead have a little "chat" with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I wasn't planning on also posting this today, as I only just posted chapter 6 earlier today (I follow Australian Central Daylight Time, which is GMT+10:30), buuuut I already had all of this written, and also finished all of chapter 8 and just really didn't want to wait.

“What the?” Ray asked, staring at the two floating whiteboards approaching him. He began backing up, absolutely panicked. Maybe Victoria and Carlos had a point about this house being haunted. This was getting freaky. He slammed into the cupboard behind him, unable to escape any further. He closed his eyes, flinching and waiting. Only to be lightly tapped with one of the whiteboards. He opened his eyes and looked.

‘Don’t be scared, let us explain.’ Was written on one of the boards. He was so confused. How was any of this possible? He nodded, letting whoever, whatever it was, that he was willing to listen.

‘We’re Julie’s bandmates. We’re not holograms, we’re actually ghosts.’ Was written on one of the boards.

‘We died twenty-five years ago.’ Said the other board.

“Wait, what? Twenty-five years?” He asked, confused even more now. “Have you been hanging around here for twenty-five years and I’ve only just noticed?” He was mad at himself. How could he have lived in this house for twenty years and not notice it was haunted. He watched as words began to appear on the boards again.

‘No, no, no.’

‘We only just got here when Julie played our CD.’

“Julie? Julie knows about you?” What did his daughter have to do with any of this? Although, now that he thought about it, they were in her band. It made sense that she knew they were ghosts. He watched as one of the whiteboards was put down while the other was written on.

‘Julie can see us all the time. And she can touch us now too.’

“Wait, what? What do you mean she can touch you?” None of this was making sense. What was so special about his daughter, that she was able to release and see these ghosts. Suddenly a CD cover was shoved into his hands. He looked down at it. “Sunset… Curve?” He read aloud, looking up at the floating boards again. “I remember Rose talking about you guys a long time ago.” He opened the CD cover and saw a photograph. Sure enough, it was the three boys from Julie’s band, and his old friend Trevor.

He remembered now. Trevor’s bandmates had passed away on the same night Trevor had met his girlfriend, Rose. The two of them had been at the funeral with Trevor, supporting him through the tough time. The three quickly became good friends. It had even been Rose and him who had encouraged Trevor to go ahead and produce his music. The music he had originally written for the band.

“Hey, I can see you again!” He declared when the two boys popped back into his sightline.

“Really? Cool,” the one from the kitchen said, grinning at him. “Hi, I’m Reggie!” He held his hand out to Ray, who numbly went to take it, only for his hand to pass right through. “Oh right,” Reggie chuckled sheepishly. The other one slapped him in the chest.

“I’m Alex,” he said, nodding at Ray. “Okay, there might not be much time before we disappear again, who knows what Julie and Luke are up to.” Alex ignored Ray’s expression tighten at that.

“Okay so let’s be quick. We met your wife, Rose, the night we died,” Reggie explained quickly. Alex looked at him with wide eyes. They had met Julie’s mom? Julie’s mom was that girl Bobby was trying to hit on? How did Reggie find all this out? “Long story,” Reggie waved Alex’s confused look off. “And then what felt like a few hours later, your daughter played our CD. That's when we reappeared here, only it hadn’t been an hour, it had been twenty-five years.”

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard,” Ray said warmly. He couldn’t imagine first dying, then waking up in a time completely different than his own.

“It was,” Alex muttered, looking down. Reggie patted his friend on the back, reassuring him, reminding him that he wasn’t alone.

“So you’re still dead then?” Ray asked, still trying to wrap his head around this all. As Reggie opened his mouth to speak, Ray saw a guitar sitting near then suddenly poof away. This made him jump and shout. “What just happened?” He looked to the boys, assuming they had something to do with it. The two shared a knowing look before simply declaring,

“Luke.” As if that explained anything.

“But yeah, we’re totally still dead, see,” Reggie attempted to wave his hand through Ray. Only to end up whacking him hard on the arm, making Ray wince with pain and glared at the boy.

“Idiot!” Alex smacked Reggie again. “Luke obviously grabbed his guitar to play it. People can touch us all whenever one of us is playing,” he explained to Ray. “Which means we can do this now,” he offered his hand out for Ray to shake, which he did. Reggie then did the same.

“This is all so weird. Does Trevor know you guys are back?” He asked, looking between the two, shocked when he saw their kind expressions to turn furious.

“We want nothing to do with that traitor,” Alex hissed out, glaring at the ground. What the heck were they talking about? Traitor? If this was about Trevor releasing the music that he wrote for them, then that was unfair. Sure it sucked that they died, but that didn’t mean Trevor had to halt his career. He glared at the two, about to tell them exactly this when they flickered out again. They reappeared a moment later.

“What do you mean traitor,” he leered at them, willing them to explain. He hoped they weren’t about to say what he thought they were going to say. He was sure this was all some big misunderstanding, and could all be cleared up in minutes. He could even ring Trevor to help clear it up, let bygones be bygones. Sure the two hadn’t talked basically since Rose’s funeral, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t get along. Their paths just went in different directions was all, he kept telling himself.

The boys’ answers were interrupted by the sound of loud talking coming from the kitchen. Julie must have been home, he supposed. He and the boys all headed up there. May as well continue this conversation with his daughter and the third member of the band. When they almost reached the door, Reggie raced ahead of him and Alex.

“Julie! Your dad saw us and he knows almost everything now!” He burst into the kitchen, only to stop, floored when he saw who was there. Alex and Ray caught up, also staring in shock at the scene before them.

~ Julie and the Phantoms ~

Julie and Luke, still holding hands, popped back into the kitchen of her house. Only to freeze when they saw who was waiting inside for them. Bobby.

“What the hell are you doing here!” Luke ground out, glaring at the man across from them.

“Hello again, Luke. Been a long time.” Was all Bobby said in greeting. He was far too calm at seeing his long-since dead friend. Almost like he knew. “So this is your new band, huh Julie?” He leered at the girl, making her gulp a little.

The Trevor Wilson from her childhood was a calm, collected, kind man. He had played his songs happily for Carrie and Julie. Always welcomed her into his home with open arms. Treating her as if she was his own daughter. The man in front of her now was completely different. He was intimidating. Scary. And gave off an air of danger. Luke pushed Julie behind him slightly, as if he was going to protect her. The though alone calmed Julie down. She wasn’t alone. She had Luke. And Alex, Reggie and Flynn. And her dad, her tia and her brother. She wasn’t alone. She didn’t need to be scared. She took a deep breath, calming herself.

“Hi Bobby,” she smiled at the man.

“It’s Trevor!” He growled, stepping forward, making both Luke and Julie take a step back.

“No, it’s not. Bobby,” Luke continued to glare at him, daring him to try and challenge him. Bobby faulted at the look before standing tall again.

“You don’t scare me, ghost,” he smirked, waving his hand through Luke. Luke faltered at this. “I’m not here for you, I’m here for her.” He leered at Julie again.

Julie had to admit she was a little scared again now. Bobby knew plain and clear that Luke couldn’t actually touch him, and he had that scary look in her eyes. Looks like she was more alone here than she thought. She shut her eyes tight. Luke squeezed her hand in reassurance, making her release the breath she hadn’t know she’d been holding. She met Bobby’s eyes again.

“You’re not going to tell anyone what you know about my music, got it,” he leered at her, stepping closer to her once again. He smirked when Julie flinched, but she didn’t step back.

“What are you going to do if I do tell people?” She asked in a brave tone, standing tall, staring him dead in the eyes. Luke watched her with bated breath, impressed, yet scared for her. She seemed so confident; like she knew something he and Bobby didn’t.

“Listen here you little shit-” Bobby advanced on her going to put his hand on her shoulder. Only for it to go through her, causing him to stumble and fall through her. Luke’s eyes widened in realisation. That was right. He forgot.

“You see, Bobby,” Julie said smugly, turning to face the man again, pulling Luke along with her. “As long as I’m holding his hand-” she raised their clasped hands up into view-“you can see him, and you can’t touch me. I’m actually untouchable,” she laughed at her own joke, making Luke smile. Damnn Julie was pretty good at being intimidating when she wanted to. He saw Bobby gulp. As she opened her mouth to continue, the door swung open behind them.

“Julie! Your dad saw us and he knows almost everything now!” Reggie burst into the kitchen, before freezing.

“Trevor?” Ray asked, coming up behind Reggie and walking through him into the kitchen.

“Bobby?” Alex and Reggie yelled at the same time.

“Ray? Alex? Reggie?” Bobby listed, staring at them all in shock. He was nervous before, but now they had him outnumbered, five to one. And one of those five could touch him, and wouldn’t hesitate to smack some sense into him. Especially if he found out he had tried to threaten his daughter. He knew that personally. It wasn’t the first time he and Ray had it out.

“Oh so you remember our names now, but not when you stole all Luke’s music?” Alex asked, crossing his arms leering at him.

“Wait, what? Stole Luke’s music?” Ray asked confused, eyes darting between everyone in the room in absolute confusion. His mind was reeling. He couldn’t keep up with all these ghosts.

“Yeah, dad. All those early songs were written by Luke, not Bobby,” Julie explained to her dad.

“Okay… Who’s Bobby?” He asked. Everyone in the kitchen face-palmed, making him pout. It wasn’t his fault he was only finding out about all this now.

“Bobby used to be in our band but he changed his name to Trevor,” Reggie supplied helpfully. Ray smiled at the boy. At least one person in the room wasn’t patronising him.

“Wait, you stole their music, Trevor?” Ray asked, glaring up at his old friend.

“Don’t listen to them, Ray. These children are lying to you!” Bobby burst, trying to convince him.

Ray wasn’t going to buy that. His daughter didn’t lie to him. Kept things from him? Sure. After all, he was only now discovering that her entire band was actually a ghost band. But she didn’t lie to him. He came to those conclusions on his own, and she merely went along with it. Now she was standing here, eyes pleading with him, telling him that Trevor had stolen all Luke’s songs. So he believed her.

“How could you steal their music?” He asked, shaking his head. He was so disappointed. “You told Rose and I that you wrote all those songs. That you wanted to share them with the world as a tribute to your deceased bandmates.” He saw the shock spread across the three's faces, before they turned their glares on Trev- Bobby, again. Bobby was stuttering now, trying and failing to come up with something.

“See that Bobby,” Julie took a step forward, pulling Luke with her as she closed in on the now nervous man. The boys and her dad all watched her with wide eyes, completely unsure what she was going to say. “Your secret is spreading already,” she smiled sweetly at him, making him gulp.

“First I found out,” she stepped forward again, making Bobby take a step back. “Then I told Flynn. That's my best friend by the way. She has a huge following on social media and can’t keep a secret to save her life unless I ask her to,” another step forward.

Bobby continued to back up as the small girl approached him. He couldn’t explain it, but she terrified him.

“Today, we told the Pattersons,” she glanced at Luke as she took another step forward. He stared at her, hearts in his eyes, never more in love with this girl than he was at that moment. He couldn’t deny it anymore. Bobby stepped back, passing straight through Alex and Reggie. He jumped when he noticed them. “And now my dad knows,” another step. Bobby was shaking now. “If you include these three. Who can now be seen and heard when they want to,” she glanced between the boys before meeting Bobby’s eyes again. “That makes eight people who know what a fraud you are. Who’s next?” She took the final step forward. When Bobby stepped back, he found himself now standing outside the kitchen doorway. Alex slammed the door shut in front of him. They all broke out in laughter.

“Did you see the look on his face!” Reggie wheezed, clutching his stomach.

“That was priceless. Amazing job Julie!” Alex high-fived the girl. He was so proud, that was amazing.

“No kidding! You totally put that dick in his place!” Luke grinned at her, hugging her.

“Language,” Ray scolded, but one look at his face made it clear he was trying not to laugh as well. His baby girl sure had handled that amazingly. He couldn’t be more proud of the strong, smart, independent woman he was raising. She was her mother’s daughter, after all. “Now, I want you to tell me everything, start to finish,” Ray said, once everyone had calmed down. They all nodded and moved to the dining room, sitting around the table together.

Two hours later, Ray was completely caught up with how the boys arrived. And all their adventures since getting here. Julie even wound up telling him Alex’s theory. All about how the boys might be coming back to life again. This surprised Luke and Reggie, as neither had known she knew the details of their new powers. Luke glared at Alex. He’d told him not to tell Julie that. He didn’t want to get her (or his for that matter) hopes up. Alex shrugged sheepishly with a chuckle.

“How about you Ray? What were those photos with Bobby? How did you know him?” Reggie asked, making all eyes turn to Ray in confusion. Ray sighed, knowing he owed Julie and the boys an explanation almost as much as they owed him one. Especially now that he knew the truth about Trevor.

“I met Trevor the day of your funeral,” he said, looking between the boys. “I’m sure you know that he and Rose met the night of your death?” He asked them. Alex and Reggie nodded at him, while his daughter and Luke looked dumbfounded.

“You guys did meet my mom?” She asked, raising her voice as she glared at the boys. They told her they never met her mom. Did they lie to her? How could they? As she began to spiral, her anger growing more and more, Reggie spoke up.

“We didn’t know Rose was your mum,” he rushed to say, seeing the girl getting more mad by the second. “You never said her name was Rose. I only saw the pictures and recognised her, tonight.” Julie calmed down a little at this, knowing the boys didn’t intentionally keep it from her.

“Yes, well, anyway,” Ray cleared his throat, making them turn back to look at him. “We began to hang out with Trevor more and more from thereon. He expressed his reluctance to release the songs that he told us he had written for the band.” Ray looked up, seeing the anger return to the boys' faces. “Rose and I had no idea you had actually written them, Luke,” he made eye contact with the boy. Luke gave him a tight nod, showing him he understood. “We encouraged him to release them to honour the memory of you boys. I see now what a mistake that was,” Ray shook his head.

“It’s okay, Mr Molina. You didn’t know,” Alex assured him. Ray sent him a smile, thanking him for being so understanding.

“Well, we kind of fell through for some reason. Rose and Trevor had a huge fight about a year before she passed,” he winced at the words.

Julie’s eyes widened as something connected in her head. One year before her mom passed. It was around that time that Carrie started being super mean to her out of nowhere. Refusing to be her friend anymore. The two things must have been related. It couldn’t be a coincidence. She had never actually spoken to Carrie about what happened between them. She accepted that her friend had changed and moved on. Maybe it was finally time to have that talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3000 words, holy- I'll post chapter 8 around this time tomorrow night :)
> 
> Coming up: Carrie and Julie have a long, much-needed talk.


	8. Panic attacks and friendship acts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Carrie have a much-needed talk after one suffers through a panic attack. In which Bobby is an irredeemable piece of shit, but Carrie is just a confused teenage girl, who thought she could believe what her father told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Really don't hate Carrie as much as everyone else does. And Kenny clearly took time to show how she and Alex would get along well, and that coupled with her clapping at the Orpheum? I'm ready for some good ol' redemption.

Julie was on a warpath the next day at school, fire in her eyes as she marched through the halls. People jumped out of her way as she stormed on by. She needed to talk to Carrie. Now. She passed Flynn while she was walking.

“Hey girl, what’s got you so- Woah!” Flynn cried when Julie marched right past her, barely sparing her a glance. Flynn didn’t see her friend like this often, but she knew better than to resist when it did happen.

“Carrie!” Julie yelled, bursting into the gymnasium. She expected to find Carrie and her troop in there practising their dances. But that wasn’t what she found at all. The gym appeared to be empty. She would have left, if not for the shallow breathing and sniffles she heard.

Julie looked around confused. She then pinpointed the location of the noise. It was coming from under the bleachers. She made her way to them, ducking under the steel bars and weaving her way to the middle of them. That was where she found Carrie, curled up in a ball on the ground, shaking and rocking back and forth. Julie couldn’t see her face, but she knew the girl was crying. She had only ever seen it this bad once before.

“Carrie. Carrie, are you okay?” Julie asked, slowly approaching the girl so as not to spook her. It became clear that the girl hadn’t heard her. Couldn’t hear her. She was having a panic attack. Julie couldn’t believe the girl still got them this bad. Back when they had been friends, Carrie had quite a few panic attacks. They got better when she started seeing her dad’s therapist. But one look at the girl proved she wasn’t seeing him anymore. Luckily Julie remembered exactly how to deal with this.

“Carrie, I’m here, you’re okay,” Julie continued to whisper as she slowly approached the girl. Even though the girl couldn’t hear her, she knew it helped with approaching her. Julie came towards her, moving slow, she reached out, lightly tapping her shoe against the other girl’s. Carrie jumped a little, meaning she was able to feel her. She wasn’t completely gone. Julie sunk down to the ground. Continuing to whisper reassurances, she reached out and touched the girl’s ankle. Carrie jumped again. Julie placed her other hand on the girl’s knee, then moved her first hand to her shoulder. She then slowly pulling her into a hug.

“Try to match my breathing, Carrie,” Julie whispered to the girl. She took a deep breath, then released it. Nothing. She did it again. Still nothing. Once more, Julie took in a deep breath, and this time Carrie matched her. Julie exhaled. So did Carrie. They did it again until eventually, Carrie stopped shaking. She was still crying, but this was progress. After a few long moments, Carrie hugged her back, letting her know she was okay. Or at least getting there.

“Thank you,” she whispered to Julie, refusing to meet her eyes and let her see all the tears. “Why are you here?” She asked after a few moments, her voice quivering as she spoke.

“Because you needed help, Carrie,” Julie responded in a strong tone, not letting go of the girl. “I know we’re not friend’s anymore, but I’ll still always be here for you. Especially when you need me. Especially when you’re having a panic attack. Do you want to talk about it?” She asked gently, pulling back enough to see the girl’s face, but not letting go of her for a second.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Carrie asked instead of answering Julie’s question.

“Us not being friends now doesn’t erase all our history, Carrie.” Julie still wanted to talk to the girl about that first part, how their friendship fell apart, but now wasn’t the time. They could talk about that later. The two sat in silence for a few more moments before Carrie broke it.

“My dad yelled at me last night. It’s the first time it’s happened in years, I didn’t know what to do,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes again.

Julie panicked a little, knowing this almost definitely had something to do with her. He didn’t yell at his daughter often, he loved Carrie more than anything. But whenever it used to happen, it would absolutely destroy Carrie. It wasn’t the source of the majority of her panic attacks, but it did always cause the worst ones. One time the girl passed out and didn’t wake up for a full thirty-six hours. That one started out a lot like the one Julie had seen just now.

Carrie knew that if Julie hadn’t come along, it might have turned into the same thing. Only this time, instead of being in her home, with two adults and a friend who could rush her to the hospital. It would have happened alone. Under the bleachers. Where it was likely no one would find her for quite some time.

Julie tightened her hug on the girl, whispering apologies into her hair, over and over. This helped stabilise Carrie a little. Feeling the girl's arms around her stopped her from spiralling once more.

Julie was considering telling the girl about her encounter with her dad the previous day. In the very least, it would assure the girl that her dad’s bad mood hadn’t been her fault. Because Julie knew that was what Carrie was thinking. She was blaming herself like she always used to. Then Julie reconsidered. Carrie might now even believe her.

“This morning he wouldn’t even look at me,” Carrie whispered again, starting to shake again. Julie pulled her in even tighter, continuing to whisper. She was okay. She was here for her. She wasn’t going anywhere. They would get through this together. The bell for their first lesson rang, but neither girl moved.

It took a while, but soon Carrie calmed down enough to pull away. She looked Julie in the eyes and thanked her, hugging her again. This time not out of needing comfort, but wanting to express her gratitude. Julie returned the hug, making Carrie tear up a little. She didn’t deserve this girl’s kindness.

“Hey Carrie,” Julie trailed off. This still wasn’t the best time to ask about this, but it would be better to get it all up in the air and dealt with. Carrie looked up at her, encouraging her to continue. “I was talking with my dad yesterday. I found out that my mum and your dad got into a huge fight, around the same time you stopped talking to me. I was wondering if you knew anything about it?” She eventually said.

Carrie looked at the girl in confusion. Why was she asking about that now? Julie had never come to her to ask why she didn’t want to be friends anymore. It was this that proved to her what her dad said was right. When he told her that Julie didn’t care about her, she acted out and pulled back. And her friend didn’t follow her. It had hurt. A lot more than Carrie tended to admit.

“That would make sense,” Carrie answered after a few beats. “Dad told me that your mum started accusing him of being a thief and a liar,” Julie’s eyes widened at this. Her mum must have somehow found out about Luke’s music. That was why they fought? “He told me that it was only a matter of time before you started trying to turn me against him. Told me you didn’t care about me as a friend. That you only wanted to be friends with me to try and slander him.” Carrie looked down again, unable to meet the girl’s eyes as she told her this for the first time.

“So that’s why you pulled back?” Julie whispered in shock, the pieces all starting to fit together now. Carrie shook her head, confusing Julie.

“No. Well, yes, but no.” She stuttered out, looking up at her again before looking away. “When he told me that, at first I didn’t want to believe him. I lashed out at everyone, including you. And I pulled away. But you never followed me. You never asked why. You just accepted it. That was when I believed dad.” Carrie started to cry again.

Tears welled up in Julie’s eyes as well. She couldn’t believe it. All this time, she blamed Carrie for pulling away. She didn’t even consider that her friend was hurting. She never tried to fix it. Never even asked her best friend if she was okay. It all made sense. If Julie had heard something like that about one of her friends, she would try to prove it wrong too. And if any of them had responded the way she did to Carrie, she would have given up on them as well. She yanked Carrie in even tighter and cried.

“I’m so sorry, Carrie. I had no idea. I understand now,” she wept against the girl's shoulder. The two girls sat and cried together. Another bell rang, signalling that over an hour had passed. They were both about to miss their second class as well. Again, neither of them moved.

“I’m sorry too, Julie. It was petty of me.” Carrie hugged the girl back even tighter. “I should have come to you after your mom…” she trailed off. She couldn’t say it. “I knew how much you must have been hurting and I still didn’t come and talk to you. I only made it worse.”

“Turns out we’re both pretty bad friends then, hey?” Julie and Carrie both laughed, their tears coming to a stop as they continued to embrace. “It’s nice to know you’re not as bad as you pretend to be, to be honest,” Julie looked down at Carrie’s questioning look. “You changed so much from when we were friends.”

“Julie,” Carrie sighed, weighing out if she really wanted to admit this. “When I pretend to be confident, I feel more confident,” she whispered. “It helped. People couldn't walk all over me if I stepped on them first.” She felt so bad admitting this. She had basically told the girl that she was mean on purpose, to save her own skin. She had no idea how Julie might react to that. What if she shunned her? Refused to be her friend again? Pretended this past few hours never happened? What if they returned to how they were a few days ago? She began to shake again, as the fear set in.

“Hmm, I guess that does make sense,” Julie eventually muttered. Carrie looked up at her in surprise, her spiral halted. “Don’t get me wrong-” Julie shook her head-“I don’t agree with it. But I get why you felt the need to do that.” Carrie breathed a sigh of relief. How did she ever let this girl go? She got her more than anyone else in the entire world ever could. Even her dad. Especially her dad. “Since your being so honest, I want to tell you something.” Julie trailed off, unsure if she should say this. They’d come so far, the last thing she wanted was for Carrie to call her a liar, and for things to go back to how they were before.

“What is it?” Carrie asked pensively. She saw the look in her friend(?)’s eyes and could tell she was unsure if she wanted to say whatever it was. “You can tell me. You didn’t judge me for being a bitch on purpose. I’m sure whatever it is it couldn’t be worse than that,” she laughed bitterly. Julie still looked unsure. Carrie opened her mouth to try and encourage her again when Julie burst out,

“Your dad came over and threatened me!” Carrie paused. She tried to process what the girl had said. They sat in silence for a few suffocating moments. Then Carrie realised she was joking. Getting her bad for two years of torment. She laughed at the joke, even though it made her sick. Only Julie didn’t laugh with her. Her laughter faded. “You’re not joking?” She asked, scared of what the answer would be. Julie nodded her head.

Carrie couldn’t believe this. Actually, no. She didn’t want to believe this. She didn’t want to, but she could. Not only could she believe it, but it also didn’t surprise her all that much. The more they spoke earlier, the more she entertained the idea. The idea that maybe Rose and her dad hadn’t fought because Rose lied about him being a bad person. Maybe he actually was one. She eventually asked what happened that lead to the threat. She didn’t want to know, but she owed it to Julie, and herself, to find out exactly how twisted her father was.

“I found out that your dad lied about all his early music.” Carrie looked at the girl questionably. “He didn’t write those songs. He stole them from his old bandmate back in 1995. After his bandmates all died,” Julie whispered.

“How do you know this?” Carrie asked. She saw the hurt in Julie’s eyes and rushed to say, “not that I don’t believe you!” She waved her hands all around before dropping them. “I-I want to know is all.”

“I-“ Julie trailed off once again before taking a deep breath. “My mom met him and the band before they died. They even used to rehearse in the studio at my house. My mom and dad moved in about five years after they passed away. They were friends with your dad at the time,” Julie repeated what her dad had told her the day before. “I found a notebook full of all the songs a little while ago. Along with the last name of the person who wrote them. Patterson.” She knew she couldn’t give Luke the credit, Carrie might recognise his name. But maybe she could at least give the credit to Emily and Mitch.

“Do- Do you think that your mom found that? And that’s when they fought?” Carrie asked, already knowing the answer. The name Patterson sounded familiar for some reason, but she pushed that to the back of her mind. For now anyway.

“I think so,” Julie nodded her affirmation. “Patterson wrote all the songs, but then he died and your dad stole them and claimed them as his own. And yesterday, I don’t know how, but he found out that I knew about it. And he came and warned-” she said, making quote marks with her fingers-“me not to tell anyone about it.” Carrie nodded, understanding what she was saying.

“Is there anything I can do? This isn’t right. My dad can’t be allowed to benefit from this anymore.” She was determined not to let him get away with this any longer. Their music was one of the most important things to songwriters, and for him to take that? Claim it as his own? It wasn’t okay. Julie thought about it for a second.

“Well,” she trailed off, smiling at Carrie a little evilly. “We were planning on haunting him a little.” She only realised what she had said when Carrie’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “We. Being me. And Flynn. We’re gonna ya know, prank him. Haunt him. Haha.” She tried to write it off. Carrie pursed her lips. There was something else going on, but she wasn’t going to push it. Not yet anyway. More information she stored in the back of her mind for later.

“I know exactly how to help,” Carrie grinned back. The third bell rang moments later, signalling the start of their next class. Only then did the girls realise they had missed two full classes. Together, the two rushed to music.

When the teacher questioned them, Carrie quietly told her about her panic attack. She explained how Julie had helped her through it. They were let off with a warning, and went to their seats, smiling at each other as they parted.

Julie sat next to Flynn. Her friend leered at her, letting her know she owed her an explanation. Julie nodded before facing the front and trying to focus on class. Instead, all the prank ideas ran through her head. Now she had three ghosts, a parent, and Bobby’s daughter all on her team. Needless to say, she wasn’t successful in focusing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is Caleb so intent on keeping Julie and Carrie apart? Seems a little weird… Hmmm…
> 
> Coming up next: a scheme on how they can drive Bobby insane. They weren't going to out him. Or at least not yet. They were going to drive him so crazy, he would out himself. Hopefully anyway. A little bit of a Carrie centric coming up. Already half-written, see you guys soon xx


	9. My Name is Luke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie meets the guys for the first time, of course, she and Alex get along swimmingly. Wait, why does the name Luke Patterson sound so familiar??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to make guys, a new opportunity opened up for me work-wise, and I'm going for my security license. Also, it's exam time at uni, so fuuuuunn.

“Okay girl, you’ve got some explaining to do,” Flynn glared at her friend as she approached their usual lunch table. Only to stop short. “What’s the demon doing here?” She asked, leering at the girl sitting at their table.

Carrie only rolled her eyes in response. As much as she wanted to snark back, she’d promised Julie she’d play nice. So instead, she huffed at the other girl, looking away, choosing not to say anything.

“Flynn,” Julie put on her mom voice, making Flynn flinch a little. “She’s here to talk, and you’re going to be nice.” Flynn shrunk into herself, sitting down with a grumble. “Thank you.” Julie sounded way too smug, making Flynn stick her tongue out at her.

Julie caught Flynn up on what she had missed. As soon as Julie mentioned revenge on Bobby, and that Carrie was in, Flynn perked up. Now, this was something she could get behind. Using the liar’s own daughter against him? Hell yes.

“It’s still so weird to think that you two are friends now though.” When she said this, Julie and Carrie blinked at one another. They hadn’t actually determined if they were friends again. It had been a tough few years, and in that time a lot had been said. Two years couldn’t be fixed in two hours… Could it? They both decided to let it slide for now, not correcting or agreeing with Flynn.

Sooner than the three would have liked, the bell rang signalling the end of lunch. Julie asked that both of the girls come over to her house after school so that they could continue their plans. Though reluctant, Carrie agreed, promising to be there after practice. The end of the day couldn’t come fast enough.

As Julie was walking to her locker to grab her books, Flynn having gone ahead of her, she was stopped by Nick. Julie sighed, preparing herself for whatever he was going to say.

“Are you friends with Carrie now?” Now, this surprised her. Sure, it was no secret that he and Carrie didn’t get along after their breakup, but she didn’t see what that had to do with her. Also, there it was. The f word again. She didn’t know exactly how she felt about that.

“Friends is a… strong word,” Julie winced a little at that. But when she saw the slight smirk on Nick’s face, she made up her mind. “Yes, we’re friends,” she said in a strong tone, forcing herself to stand taller and meet his eyes. His own widened, and he faltered at her confidence.

“Well, I’m just warning you that that’s a bad idea,” he smiled at her. She supposed it was meant to look kind, but instead it gave off a menacing aura. She was starting to get sick of his recent attitude. God, she can’t believe she crushed on this guy for so long.

“Well, I’m just saying that I don’t see how it’s any of your business.” She was unable to keep the snipe out of her tone. She slammed her locker shut, making him jump a little. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she muttered, sending him one final glare before walking past him.

“Julie, wait!” He called, jogging after her to walk beside her. “All I’m saying is that she was so horrible to you for no good reason, you shouldn’t fall into that again.” His tone seemed helpful, but his words were condescending. He was talking to her like she was a child.

“Look, Nick,” Julie said, stopping and turning to face the boy. “I… appreciate,” she ground out “the warning. But it’s not needed. I know what I’m getting into here.” She glared at him again, daring him to challenge her. Unfortunately for her, he took the bait.

“Yeah but-” he started to say, but he was cut off, as he was pushed away from Julie, as someone stepped between them.

“She said to back off, Nick.” Carrie levelled her cold stare on the boy. She crossed her arms as she stood between him and Julie. Julie put her hand on her shoulder in a silent thank you. Carrie smiled back at the girl. Nick faltered as he looked at the two. There was no point in continuing the conversation with Carrie here now.

“Whatever,” he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away. “I’ll talk to you when you snap out of it, Julie,” he grinned at the girl. Julie gawked at the boy’s confidence and glared at his back as he retreated.

“That was so weird, I’ve never seen him act like that,” Carrie muttered, looking back at her friend. As Julie went to say more, a booming voice interrupted them.

“Molina! Wilson! Class started three minutes ago! Get out of the hall!” The two shared a look, promising to continue this conversation after school.

After school, Julie and Flynn walked back to the Molina house together. After greeting Ray, and grabbing a snack, they headed straight down to the studio to meet the boys. Julie explained to the guys how she had, more or less, made up with Carrie. She told them that the girl was going to come over to help them brainstorm. While at first met with scepticism, the boys jumped on board when they found out Carrie wanted in.

~ Julie and the Phantoms ~

With practice finally over, Carrie was free to head over to Julie’s house and talk about the plan with her and Flynn. She had to admit she was nervous to go there again. It had been such a long time, and sure things were starting to go back to their old normal, but it wasn’t there yet. Plus it was clear that Flynn still wasn’t her fan.

Waving goodbye to the girls, she exited the gym and began the familiar walk that she still had memorised. Sure, she could have asked her dad to pick her up, but something told her that wasn’t the best idea. It would be better if she didn’t have to explain her and Julie being friends (maybe) again. What would she say? ‘Oh yeah, we bonded over me having a panic attack about your temper tantrum. Oh and then she told me that you’re the worst person on Earth and stole all your music.’ Yeah. Sure. That would go over real well.

Hearing the sound of wheels on pavement coming rushing towards her, she jerked her head up from the phone. A boy skated straight toward her, not looking like he was going to slow down any time soon. When he was a mere meter from her, she realised he was going to crash into her. She jumped aside with a yelp, landing on her knees on the pavement.

She looked up to leer at the retreating boy, only to freeze when she met his eyes. He had stopped skating and was staring at her, eyes bulging and mouth dropped open. She scowled one last time before standing up and stomping off with a huff.

At her angry pace, she arrived at the Molina household within minutes. She froze, unsure what to do now. Taking a deep breath, she slapped her cheeks before knocking on the kitchen door. She didn’t have to wait long before the door was thrown open.

“What are you doing here?” She recognised Julie’s little brother at the door, glaring at her with his arms crossed. He had grown a lot in the past two years. Suddenly she was nervous. Looking at him, she was reminded of exactly how long it had been. Of exactly how much had changed in that time. Even the kitchen, she noted, looking around the room.

“U-Uh…” She trailed off, trying to find the words. She felt like she owed the young boy an explanation, but had no idea where to start. ‘No, another time.’ She sighed before meeting the boy's eyes again. “I’m here to see Julie?” His glare was starting to unnerve her if she was honest.

“Studio,” was his simple reply, as he continued to glare at her. “I’m sure you know where that is.” And then the door was slammed in her face. She couldn’t even blame the boy, if someone had treated her brother the way she had Julie, she would be pissed too. Taking another deep breath, she headed to the gate, following the worn path to the old studio.

Her breathing got quicker and more shallow as she approached. She paused outside the closed doors. What if Julie changed her mind and couldn’t forgive her after all? What if she only invited her over to laugh in her face? What if she just wanted to use her to get back at her dad and as soon as they were done she dropped her again?

No. This was Julie she was talking about here. Those actions seemed more in character for herself than they did for her old friend. There was only one way to find out. Timidly, she knocked on the door. When she heard Julie's assent, she pushed one door open and stepped inside.

When she stepped inside, she was shocked at what she saw. The room had changed quite a bit. There was now a drum kit and two guitars in the middle of the room right near the old grand piano. But that wasn’t what shocked her, it was the five pairs of eyes that were staring back at her. Of course, Julie and Flynn were there, but accompanying them were the three boys from Julie’s band. What were they doing there?

“Hi Carrie, glad you could make it,” Julie smiled brightly at her old friend. Carrie met the girl’s eyes in confusion before glancing at each one of the boys again.

“Hi?” She asked, waving weakly at everyone in the room. “What are they all doing here? I thought they were…” She trailed off, realising she didn’t actually know where the boys were from. All she knew was that they lived somewhere else. She also couldn’t help but noticed Julie and the sleeveless one holding hands. She had been at their house party, she saw how they looked at one another back then. Were they dating now? She would have to ask that later.

“Oh! Right!” Julie’s eyes widened as she looked around at the boys in panic. Carrie raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why did that question freak Julie out? There must have been a simple explanation… Right? Maybe it was more complicated than she thought.

“They moved here!” Flynn jumped up, speaking hurriedly. This confused Carrie even more. Moved here? When? From where? Were they going to start at their school? Although they did look older than them. Had they already graduated? Before she could ask any of these questions, the blonde one jumped in, standing up in a hurry.

“That we did. Move here. From, uh-” he trailed off glancing at Julie for a second before meeting Carrie’s eyes again, “Sweden?” That sounded more like a question than a statement, how did he not know where he moved from. Something about this all didn’t add up. “Anyway, I’m Alex,” he grinned at her, waving one hand.

“Hi, I’m Carrie,” she smiled back, offering out a hand to the boy. His eyes widened and he jumped back, not shaking her hand, confusing her. Right as she was about to ask if he was maybe a germaphobe, strumming from across the room distracted her. The sleeveless one was no playing his guitar for some reason.

“Sorry about him, he’s always playing that thing,” the blonde, Alex, she corrected herself, spoke. He stepped toward her again, offering a hand, which she gladly shook. “That’s Luke, and the one asleep on the couch is Reggie.” Alex picked up a rubber ball from next to him and tossed it at the boy, hitting him on the head.

“I’m up!” He yelled, jumping off of the couch with a start, looking around the room wildly before meeting her eyes. “Oh, hi,” he grinned, waving in a wild manner.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” she smiled at them. For a moment, she worried about how much Julie had told them about her, before brushing it off. She’d made her own good impression. “So, we gonna make a plan or what?” She asked, grinning at Julie.

~ Julie and the Phantoms ~

“Come on, Reggie! White sheets are so boring, you can do better than that!” Luke whined, from his place laying on top of the piano, still holding Julie’s hand. Forty minutes later they were no closer to coming up with anything they could agree on.

“Is he always like this?” Carrie whispered to Alex, pointing at Luke in confusion.

“Pretty much,” Alex sighed, shaking his head. The two exchanged a look before giggling at the other Phantom’s expense.

Julie smiled at the two, her eyes bright. She always had a feeling those two would get along well, even before she and Carrie had made up.

“Hey! A white sheet worked fine on Carlos and Victoria!” Reggie cried indignantly, before slapping a hand over his mouth as Luke kicked him.

“Wait, what?!” Julie cried, glaring at him before turning her look on Alex and Luke as well. “Did you guys HAUNT my brother and tia?”

“What do you mean haunt?” Lucky for the guys, Carrie’s question distracted Julie. Otherwise, she very well might have murdered them.

“Uh-” Julie scrambled for an explanation on her word choice. She kept forgetting exactly how little Carrie knew about the boys. Bringing her here might have been a bad idea after all.

“It’s what we call prank!” Luke interrupted her, waving it off with nonchalance. Carrie nodded at this, still a little confused but she let it pass for now. She seemed to be having to do that a lot with this group.

“Okay, everyone! Dinner!” Ray’s voice interrupted any further discussion, as he opened the door. “Are Flynn and Carrie joining us for dinner?” He asked, looking around the room.

“I should get home…” Carrie mumbled, trailing off. She didn’t want to leave. Nor did she want to go back to her dad. But she wanted even less than to have to explain where she was all this time. She looked up, feeling the six eyes on her, looking at her with worry and pitty. She put on a fake smile. “Yeah, I’ll head home, thank you for having me, Mr Molina.” She could tell that none of them bought her fake smile, but that didn’t matter. “I’ll see you girls at school tomorrow, bye guys, it was nice meeting you.” With that, she exited the old studio and trudged up the steps, ready to begin the long walk home.

“Wait, Carrie, stay for dinner, then I’ll drive you home.” Mr Molina grabbed her hand and looked at her with the same kind eyes he always had. She looked away, still unsure. “It will take longer for you to walk home anyway, and I’ll drop you off at the end of the block so he doesn’t see me.”

“Okay, thank you,” she smiled up at the kind man, unable to ignore the tears in her eyes.

After making sure the boys were behind her and out of Carrie’s sight, Julie dropped Luke’s hand and hugged her friend. Even Flynn placed her hand on Carrie’s shoulder.

~ Julie and the Phantoms ~

True to his word, Mr Molina drove Carrie home and dropped her off a few houses away straight after dinner. Carrie took a deep breath before opening her front door and walking in, shouting to her dad in greeting.

“Carrie, there you are!” At least he was talking to her now, she noted and he entered the room, frowning at her. “Where were you?”

“Sorry dad, I had dinner with Kayla.” Carrie didn’t meet her dad’s eyes as she headed toward the stairs. His expression softened a little as he watched her head up.

“Call next time!” He shouted up after her. Carrie ignored his shout, climbing the stairs and entering her bedroom.

That night, Carrie couldn’t sleep, she kept tossing and turning in her bed. There was still so much to figure out. How could they get her dad back? How could they get him to admit to what he’d done? She threw her blankets aside, knowing she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

She slipped out of her room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She paused when passing her dad’s room, pressing her ear to the door to make sure he was asleep. If she was going to look around, she had to make sure he wasn’t awake to know about it.

Once she was sure he was asleep, she headed downstairs. Pensively, she flicked on the light to the room, letting out a small shiver as she looked around. She glared at the platinum records hung all around the room.

Carrie turned to the records. There were eighteen songs in total. Eighteen songs that another person had poured their heart and soul into. Eighteen songs that her dad had taken credit for. Like it was nothing to him. Eighteen songs that had resulted in her dad living life in luxury. While the author, her dad’s old friend, was dead.

Her dad must have no soul. To steal music that belonged to someone else, that alone was horrible. But to steal from a friend? After they died? Did he have no loyalty? Then she thought about her own actions. The way she had treated Julie. Guess being a bad friend ran in the family. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Carrie paused as she reached the next duo of records. She read the name of the one on the left. She read it again. A third time trying to process it. My Name is Luke. Did her dad really steal a song that even said the name of the author? And somehow no one noticed? The name Luke rang in her head, over and over. Then Julie’s words ‘After his bandmates all died.’ The boy from Julie’s band appeared at the front of Carrie’s mind. It couldn’t be-

Carrie turned away, racing up the stairs and throwing open the door to her room. She dove onto her bed, grabbing her phone. She entered the name Luke Patterson into Google and waited. She clicked on the first article to come up.

“Sunset Curve, A Hollywood Tragedy,” she read aloud. She clicked on the image under the title, gasping at what she saw.

“Carrie, what’s going on?” Her dad’s voice cut off her thoughts. Her head shot up, her eyes widening as they met his stern gaze. She turned off her phone screen and threw it behind her. “Why are you still awake?” He asked, leering at her now discarded phone. “And why is the light on downstairs?”

“Sorry dad, couldn’t sleep,” was all Carrie said, still refusing to meet his eyes. How was she supposed to act normal around him if she couldn’t even meet his eyes?

“Okay, sweetie,” she had always hated when he called her that, but never more than she did right now. “Try not to make too much noise, please.” With that, he left, closing the door behind him.

Carrie scrambled to pick up her phone again, turning it on. She was met with the same photograph. She hadn’t been imagining it. In the photo, plain as day, was her dad, only much younger, and his old bandmates. Who also happened to be Julie’s current bandmates. The ones she had met only yesterday. The ones apparently from another country.

All their stories, the ones that had never added up or seemed quite right, made sense. Everything clicked in her mind. The boys were never holograms. They were ghosts. And for some reason, Julie could touch them, and people could see them and hear them. Her mind was racing, unable to process this. Ghosts didn’t, shouldn’t exist. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: a little bit of psychological torture, the best kind of pranks mess with people's head after all. Right?


End file.
